The IDF has completed the sealing of the underground tunnel complex where Lt. Hadar Goldin HY”D was held after he was killed in combat and abducted in the Gaza Strip on August 1, 2014, during Operation Protective Edge.
Following the IDF’s prolonged operations in Gaza, Lt. Goldin was brought to kevuras Yisroel as part of the hostage return framework in November 2025.
In an operation led by the Southern Command, combat engineers from the elite Yahalom Unit, together with Shayetet 13, uncovered the underground complex in southern Rafah where Goldin had been held in recent years. Over the past three months, the forces sealed the more than 16-kilometer-long tunnel system using over 30,000 cubic meters of concrete.
According to the IDF, the tunnel network contained approximately 80 rooms and served as a Hamas command-and-control center. It was used by the commander of Hamas’ Rafah Brigade in the group’s military wing to direct terrorist operations.
The tunnel complex was located near the Philadelphi Corridor and ran beneath a residential neighborhood, mosques, kindergartens, clinics, a school, and a UNRWA clinic.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
