Hamas says it retrieved body of deceased Israeli soldier Hadar Goldin
Hamas’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, says it has retrieved Hadar Goldin’s body in Rafah in southern Gaza. A senior source in the group told Al Jazeera that six slain Palestinians were also recovered from the site where Goldin’s body was found.
Goldin was killed, and his body was taken away during fighting in Gaza in 2014.
Goldin’s body retrieved from Rafah, which Israel controlled for over a year
In the past few hours, members of [Hamas’s] Qassam Brigades … were given the greenlight by mediators to move to retrieve the body of Israeli captive Hadar Goldin from the city of Rafah that has been under Israeli control for more than a year – and has been decimated to the ground as a result of Israeli military operations there.
There are reports that the Israeli captive was retrieved from a tunnel that the Israeli military had inspected multiple times over the past year.
Hadar Goldin was … in the Israeli military. He was captured by Hamas fighters in a military ambush back in … 2014, while the Israeli military was working to destroy tunnels in the eastern parts of the city.
After his abduction, the Israeli military activated the Hannibal Directive, which is a controversial military protocol that is designed to prevent the capturing of Israeli soldiers, even if it risks killing them.
Israel holding bodies of slain Palestinians part of ‘collective punishment’
The bodies of 15 Palestinians were handed over by Israel. These bodies were among those that were withheld by Israel for months and months, many of them from the early weeks of the war in Gaza.
We have been told by medical sources that many of the bodies arrived in deteriorated conditions, which complicates the process of identification and makes it more painful and complex to identify them.
On the ground, this handover comes under growing criticism from Palestinian families, who say Israel continues to hold hundreds of Palestinian bodies as part of a wider policy of collective punishment.
From the perspective of the Palestinian public here, it’s not just about restoring bodies, but more about restoring dignity and enabling families to give a proper burial and mourn their loved ones after two years of unimaginable losses.
A displaced Palestinian girl looks out of a tent in Gaza City, November 4
Israel ‘will continue to act’ until all bodies returned: Defence minister
Israel Katz has said Israel “will act” until the remaining captives’ bodies are returned from Gaza and “the last tunnel is dug”.
His comments come as the Israeli military continues to demolish Palestinian homes and other structures, particularly in the south of the enclave, and carry out deadly attacks across Gaza.
Continually moving the goal posts to keep the genocide going.
