IDF reveals the 10-km Rafah tunnel where Hamas hid Hadar Goldin's remains, under a UNRWA compound, mosques and schools

The IDF on Monday released new details on the operations that brought Lt. Hadar Goldin home, one year after his remains were returned to Israel and more than 11 years after Hamas killed him and took his body.

Goldin was killed in a battle in Rafah on Aug. 1, 2014, during Operation Protective Edge, when Hamas broke a ceasefire. His remains were returned on Nov. 9, 2025, and he was laid to rest two days later.

According to the military, the tunnel where Hamas kept him, known as "Dror Lavan," runs more than 10 kilometers under a dense Rafah neighborhood near the Philadelphi Corridor and has three levels, the deepest about 30 meters underground. It passes under civilian sites including a UNRWA compound, mosques, clinics, kindergartens and schools.

Troops found about 80 rooms inside, including command rooms where senior Hamas commanders stored weapons, stayed for long periods and planned attacks on Israeli forces. Among them was Rafah Brigade commander Mohammed Shabana.

The break came in July 2025, when Southern Command forces and the Shin Bet, guided by Military Intelligence, arrested Hamas operative Marwan al-Hams, who was suspected of knowing where Goldin was buried. Commando Brigade, Yahalom combat engineers and Shayetet 13 naval commandos then uncovered the route.

The IDF said Yahalom and Shayetet 13 finished sealing the route, which it put at more than 16 kilometers in total, at the end of June 2026 with more than 30,000 cubic meters of concrete. The military said the long effort to bring Goldin home contributed significantly to the defeat of Hamas's Rafah Brigade.