He fragile ceasefire in Gaza appears to be advancing as Palestinian militias recover and hand over the bodies of Israeli hostages trapped in the Strip. This Sunday, the al Qasam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, handed over to the Red Cross the body of soldier Hadar Goldinmurdered during the 2014 war. With Goldin’s, there are now six bodies recovered by Israel in the last week, while four others remain held in Gazaaccording to Israeli media.
Hadar Goldin, 23 years old at the time of his death, was killed in a ambush in Ráfah during the summer of 2014and its remains had remained in the hands of Hamas since then. The Palestinian group reported Saturday that it had found the body in a Yebna refugee camp tunnelin Ráfah, a city under the control of the Israeli Army for more than a year, according to a statement released through its official channels.
The Abu Kabir Forensic Institute in Tel Aviv has confirmed that the body returned this Sunday by Hamas in Gaza belongs to soldier Hadar Goldin, according to a statement from the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Eleven years later
The delivery of the body of Hadar Goldin, the only hostage held since before the October 7 attacks of 2023, has a deep symbolic meaning for the Hebrew State and contributes to closing the wounds of a previous war that remains on hold today thanks to the ceasefire agreement. In that 2014 conflictwhich lasted for 49 days, 71 Israelis and 2,310 Palestinians died.
The Israeli military then held a symbolic burial for Goldin, and his family asked the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) not to leave Gaza without recovering his body. “His family has suffered deep anguish and now you will be able to bury him in the land of Israel,” declared the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahuduring a cabinet meeting, according to The Times of Israel.
In the middle of the ceasefire
The southern Gaza city of Rafah remains within the so-called “yellow line” marked by the first phase of the ceasefire agreementbehind which Israeli forces must withdraw. In this area, Hamas has confirmed, after initially denying it, that more than a hundred Palestinian militiamen are still trapped.
This week, the Palestinian group has attempted to negotiate the evacuation of its fighters through humanitarian corridors managed by the Red Cross to avoid direct confrontations with the IDF. For its part, the Israeli Government publicly refuses to accept an agreement on this matter, while, privately, mediators work to resolve the crisis and avoid direct confrontations, according to the Israeli media. Haaretz.
Still, the guarantees that support the agreement are constantly questioned. During almost a month in force, it has been interrupted twice by airstrikes launched by Israel in retaliation for ambushes against its troops around the southern city of Rafah, attributed to Hamas.
Despite the current ceasefire, More than 240 people have died in Gaza. In total, the Israeli attacks since October 7, 2023 have left 69,176 dead and 170,690 injuredaccording to local authorities.
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