Israeli Forces Seal 16-Kilometer Tunnel Where Lt. Hadar Goldin Was Held in Gaza

Israeli engineering units from the Gaza Division and Southern Command have completed sealing a 16-kilometer underground tunnel where Lieutenant Hadar Goldin was held captive. The complex operation, led by Southern Command forces and Yahalom unit fighters, took three months and involved pouring over 30,000 cubic meters of concrete to fully block the tunnel.

Lt. Hadar Goldin fell in battle and was abducted on August 1, 2014, during Operation Protective Edge in Gaza. Following ongoing military efforts, Goldin was returned to Israel for burial in November 2025 as part of a prisoner return agreement. The tunnel was uncovered south of Rafah during a special operation involving Yahalom and Shayetet 13 units, which pinpointed the exact location where Goldin had been held.

According to the IDF, the extensive tunnel system contained around 80 living chambers and served as a strategic command and control center for Hamas. It was actively used by the Rafah Brigade commander of Hamas’s military wing to plan terrorist activities. The tunnel was deliberately constructed beneath civilian infrastructure, including residential neighborhoods, mosques, kindergartens, clinics, a school, and a UNRWA clinic, running under the Philadelphi route.

The sealing of this tunnel marks a significant engineering and security achievement for the Israeli military, aiming to prevent future militant use of such underground networks in Gaza.