Jerusalem – The Israeli army on Sunday evening said that they confirmed the death of missing Lt. Hadar Goldin by checking the DNA of parts of his body that were found in a tunnel.
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Goldin was listed as missing in action on Friday following a deadly incident in southern Gaza in the morning in which two other soldiers were killed, with Israel saying it suspected he had been snatched by Palestinian militants.
The incident sparked a major bombardment of the southern city of Rafah and the surrounding area as troops sought to track him down in a display of firepower that killed 114 people in just 24 hours.
But early on Sunday, the army announced that Goldin had been killed in action, with army spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner telling AFP he had been identified by his DNA.
“What we know for sure was that one suicide bomber and at least three or four other gunmen came out of a tunnel.
“One blew himself up, killing two on the spot, and the others were shooting — they grabbed Hadar and snatched him down into the tunnel,” he said.
“We don’t know if he was alive and wounded, or dead at this time. Only in the aftermath, with the forensic investigation, were we able to conclude that he was killed,” he said.
Remains of Goldin’s body were discovered inside the tunnel east of Rafah where the confrontation took place, Lerner said.
“He was identified by his DNA,” he told AFP, saying what they found proved he was dead, not being held by a militant group.
“There was enough to determine that he had been killed and to carry out a burial.”
Asked why it had taken so long to declare the soldier dead and not captured, Lerner said: “The DNA test took time.”
Story is a bit diambiguous.
I’m confused. His levaya was today. What did they bury? Some DNA samples?
Yeah story is definitely not clear and missing many pieces.
Yes and simultaneously Bibi suddenly pulls out all our troops. No doubt as per obama
They had blood that needed kvura.
No body was found. Body was kidnapped.
to numbers 1-3.
Do you think it would increase Kavod Hames to satisfy your curiosity by detailing exactly which pieces of this Korbon were recovered for burial, which pieces of his holy body were blown to bits, and which pieces may still be in the hands of Hamas?
I’m sure his family and fiancee would love to provide with all the gory details so that your morbid curiosity would be satisfied. Why don’t you pay them a shiva call and ask them personally. It would be such a nechama for them to provide sensitive folk such as yourselves with the details you seek, so you would have some intelligent “rayd” to talk about next time your shul says tehillim for the soldiers and yiddin in Eretz Yisroel.
It is people like you that make me think Moshe Rabainu was being sarcastic when he said “Am Chochom V’novonin”.
It seems the bomber blew them up and they found only remains of his body. It’s really a tragedy.May Hashem comfort the family and bring the ultimate redemption soon.
“Remains of Goldin’s body were discovered inside the tunnel east of Rafah where the confrontation took place, Lerner said.” Sounds like there was something to bury.
Goldin’s was the second Levaya of a soldier killed in action that I attended. It is heart wrenching. Why can’t it just be left at that without all the baseless speculation?
There was one soldier killed that didn’t have a Levaya, because there was nothing to bury. The fact that this did take place should tell you something. No need to draw pictures.