The IDF launched a large-scale operation dubbed "White Freedom" upon its entry into Rafah in May 2024, seeking to locate the body of kidnapped IDF officer Lt. Hadar Goldin, journalist Doron Kadosh reported Monday morning on Army Radio.
The report added that the mission was unsuccessful, despite extensive efforts including the deployment of numerous IDF units, advanced operational capabilities, engineering forces, intelligence efforts, and special forces.
Instead, the IDF was unable to pinpoint the exact location where Goldin’s body was hidden, and the information remained solely in Hamas’ hands until the terror group released the body on Sunday for burial in Israel.
Newly-released details reveal that the tunnel from which Hamas retrieved Goldin’s body is located near the Yabna camp area in Rafah. The IDF had constructed a massive trench to reach this tunnel, and special forces even entered it for searches and scans. However, the specific tunnel branch where the body was concealed was not searched by the troops.
A senior IDF official stressed: “Had we remained in Rafah and continued intensive searches through the remaining tunnels in Rafah, we would have eventually reached that location. It was only a matter of time.”
Lieutenant Hadar Goldin fell in combat during Operation “Protective Edge,” following a violation of the ceasefire by the Hamas terrorist organization in Rafah on August 1st, 2014, during which his body was taken by Hamas.