Hamas returned on Sunday what it said was the body of another Israeli hostage the terrorist group has held captive in Gaza, appearing to mark a positive development for the fragile Gaza ceasefire.
Hadar Goldin, 23, was an Israeli soldier who was killed in 2014 and the only hostage who was taken captive before Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack. His family has spent the past 11 years campaigning for the body’s return, with Goldin’s remains being among the 28 deceased hostages ordered to be handed over to Israel under the terms of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that President Donald Trump brokered last month.
Hamas transferred the body it said was Goldin’s to the International Red Cross over the weekend after finding his remains in a Rafah tunnel on Saturday. The Red Cross handed over the body to the Israeli military. Israel is conducting forensic testing in Tel Aviv for final confirmation, according to the Jerusalem Post.
If the body is confirmed to be Goldin, Hamas will have returned 24 out of 28 of the hostages. Delivery of the bodies of Meny Godard, Ran Gvili, Dror Or, and Sudthisak Rinthalak has stalled due to claims from Hamas that it is struggling to locate remains it says are buried in the rubble of war-torn Gaza.
Speaking at the start of a weekly Cabinet meeting on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Goldin “fell in a heroic battle during Operation Protective Edge, 11 years ago.”
“His body was abducted by Hamas, which refused to return it throughout this entire period. During all these years, we in the governments of Israel have made great efforts to bring him home. All this time, his family has endured deep anguish, and now they will be able to lay him to rest in the land of Israel,” Netanyahu said.
For each hostage returned, Israel has been releasing the remains of 15 Palestinians.
The first phase of Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza calls for Hamas to return the remains of all hostages before moving into the second phase of the agreement.
Special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the diplomatic team that spearheaded the Gaza ceasefire, are expected to travel to Israel on Monday to discuss closing the first phase and transitioning into the second phase of the peace plan, which includes provisions mandating Hamas’s full disarmament. The plan calls for a full Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza and offers amnesty to Hamas fighters. In exchange, Hamas must give up its weapons, dismantle its military apparatus, and destroy any terrorist infrastructure in Gaza.
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“Hamas has always indicated that they would disarm. They’ve said so — they said it to us directly,” Witkoff said during remarks last week at the America Business Forum conference in Miami.
“I hope that they keep their word because if they do, they’ll understand that the development plan that we have for Gaza is really terrific — a lot better than anyone has ever discussed before,” he continued, adding that it will include a “tremendous jobs program.”
