Israel confirms receiving the remains of a soldier killed in Gaza in 2014

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel on Sunday confirmed it had received the remains of Hadar Goldin, a soldier killed in the Gaza Strip in 2014, closing a painful chapter for the country.

The 23-year-old was killed two hours after a ceasefire took effect in that year’s war between Israel and Hamas. Goldin’s family waged a public campaign for 11 years to bring home his remains. Earlier this year, they marked 4,000 days since his body was taken.

Israel’s military had long determined that he had been killed, based on evidence found in the tunnel where his body was taken, including a blood-soaked shirt and prayer fringes. His remains had been the only ones left in Gaza predating the current war between Israel and Hamas.

The remains of four hostages taken in the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which sparked the current war, are still in Gaza.

The return of Goldin's remains were a significant development in the U.S.-brokered truce, which has faltered during the slow return of bodies of hostages and skirmishes between Israeli troops and militants in Gaza.

Dozens of people gathered along intersections where the police convoy carried the remains to the national forensic institute, paying last respects.

Many more gathered later outside the home of Goldin's parents, who noted the “many disappointments” in their efforts over the years and said that Israel's military and “not anyone else” had brought home their son — apparent criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Netanyahu told the weekly Cabinet meeting that holding the body for so long caused “great agony of his family, which will now be able to give him a Jewish burial.” Israel recovered the remains of another soldier killed in 2014, Oron Shaul, earlier this year.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has returned to Israel to help press ahead with ceasefire efforts, a person familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity because the visit hasn't been publicly announced.

Kushner, a top adviser to Trump, was a key architect of Washington's 20-point ceasefire plan. The deal that took effect Oct. 10 has focused on the first phase of halting the fighting, releasing all hostages and boosting humanitarian aid to Gaza. Details of the second phase, including deploying an international security force, disarming Hamas and governing postwar Gaza, haven't been worked out.

Kushner was helping to lead negotiations to secure safe passage for 150-200 trapped Hamas militants in exchange for surrendering their weapons after the release of Goldin’s remains, according to someone close to the negotiations, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the talks.

Israeli media, citing anonymous officials, previously reported that Hamas was delaying the release of Goldin's body in hopes of negotiating safe passage for more than 100 militants surrounded by Israeli forces and trapped in Rafah.

Gila Gamliel, the minister of innovation, science and technology and a member of Netanyahu's Likud party, told Army Radio that Israel wasn't negotiating for a deal within a deal.

“There are agreements whose implementation is guaranteed by the mediators, and we shouldn't allow anyone to come now and play (games) and to reopen the agreement,” she said.

Hamas made no comment on a possible exchange for its fighters stuck in the so-called yellow zone, which is controlled by Israeli forces, though they acknowledged that clashes were taking place there.

Goldin's family had held what his mother, Leah Goldin, has called a “pseudo-funeral" at the urging of Israel’s military rabbis. But the lingering uncertainty was like a “knife constantly making new cuts.”

Leah Goldin told The Associated Press earlier this year that returning her son’s body has ethical and religious value and is part of the sacrosanct pact Israel makes with its citizens, who are required by law to serve in the military.

“Hadar is a soldier who went to combat and they abandoned him, and they destroyed his humanitarian rights and ours as well,” Goldin said. She said that her family often felt alone in their struggle to bring Hadar, a talented artist who had just become engaged, home for burial.

After the Oct. 7 attack, the Goldin family attempted to help hundreds of families of those taken into Gaza. Initially, the Goldins found themselves shunned as advocacy for the hostages surged.

“We were a symbol of failure,” Goldin recalled. “They told us, ‘we aren’t like you, our kids will come back soon.’”

For each Israeli hostage returned, Israel has been releasing the remains of 15 Palestinians. Ahmed Dheir, director of forensic medicine at Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, said that the remains of 300 have now been returned, with 89 identified.

Around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, and 251 people were kidnapped.

On Saturday, Gaza’s Health Ministry said that the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza has risen to 69,176. The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals, maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by independent experts.

Kareem Chehayeb reported from Beirut. Josef Federman contributed to this report from Jerusalem.

Find more of AP’s Israel-Hamas coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Palestinians wait to receive vaccinations for their children at a health center in Gaza City, Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

A convoy carrying a coffin handed over to Israel from Gaza arrives at the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025. Hamas claims the coffin contains the remains of Hadar Goldin, an Israeli soldier killed in Gaza in 2014 and whose body has been held in Gaza since. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Mourners attend the funeral of slain hostage Israeli-American Staff Sgt. Itay Chen at Kiryat Shaul Cemetery in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025, after his body was returned from Gaza. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

People await the arrival of a coffin handed over to Israel from Gaza that Hamas says contains the remains of Hadar Goldin, a soldier killed in Gaza in 2014, whose remains have been held there since, at the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Palestinians rush toward trucks carrying aid as they drive through Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Red Cross convoy carrying what Hamas claims is the remains of an Israeli soldier who was killed in Gaza in 2014 and whose body has been held in Gaza since. makes its way toward the border crossing with Israel, to be transferred to Israeli authorities, in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians rush toward trucks carrying aid as they drive through Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Red Cross convoy carrying what Hamas claims is the remains of an Israeli soldier who was killed in Gaza in 2014 and whose body has been held in Gaza since. makes its way toward the border crossing with Israel, to be transferred to Israeli authorities, in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Displaced Palestinians walk through a makeshift tent camp in the Muwasi area of Khan Younis, in the Gaza Strip, Saturday, Nov. 8,2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Ruby and Hagit Chen salute over the grave of their son, slain hostage Israeli-American Staff Sgt. Itay Chen during his funeral at Kiryat Shaul Cemetery in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025, after his body was returned from Gaza. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Israeli soldiers carry the flag-draped coffin of slain Israeli-American Staff Sgt. Itay Chen after his body was returned from Gaza, during his funeral at Kiryat Shaul Cemetery in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Israeli soldiers carry the flag-draped coffin of slain Israeli-American Staff Sgt. Itay Chen after his body was returned from Gaza, during his funeral at Kiryat Shaul Cemetery in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Freed Israeli hostage Matan Angrest holds a photo of Hadar Goldin, an Israeli soldier killed in 2014 whose body has been held in Gaza since then, during a rally calling for the return of the deceased hostages who are held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

A woman walks past a photo of Hadar Goldin, an Israeli soldier killed in 2014 whose body has been held in Gaza since then, in Jerusalem, Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

U.S. President Donald Trump said the military could end its Iran offensive in two to three weeks and will shift responsibility for the Strait of Hormuz to countries that rely on it for oil and shipping as the White House announced a prime-time presidential address Wednesday evening on the war.

Trump expressed frustration Tuesday with allies who have been unwilling to do more to support the U.S. war effort, telling them to “go get your own oil.” Trump recently has vacillated between insisting there is progress in diplomatic talks with Iran and threatening to widen the war.

He said the U.S. “will not have anything to do with” what happens next in the vital waterway that has been closed by the Islamic Republic. Instead, he told reporters, the responsibility for keeping the strait open will rest with countries that rely on it. Gulf states rely on the waterway for both exports and imports, including food, and 20 percent of the world's oil supply flows through it.

U.S. gas prices jumped past an average of $4 a gallon for the first time since 2022 on Tuesday, as the Iran war continues to push fuel prices higher worldwide. Analysts say those high fuel costs will trickle into groceries as businesses’ transportation and packaging costs pile up.

Here is the latest:

A drone attack has killed a citizen of Bangladesh in Fujairah, one of the UAE’s seven emirates, authorities said.

He was killed Wednesday when Emirati air defense systems intercepted a drone, and shrapnel landed in a farm, the Fujairah media office said.

The fatality has brought the death toll in the UAE to nine civilians and two soldiers. A Moroccan contractor with the UAE army was also killed in Bahrain.

Earlier Saudi Arabia said it had destroyed two Iranian drones.

Emergency personnel said an 11-year-old girl was severely wounded in central Israel in the latest missile attack from Iran.

Two more people suffered moderate injuries including a 13-year-old boy and a 36-year-old woman, according to Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue services.

Iran’s foreign minister has acknowledged receiving direct messages from U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff.

The comments by Abbas Araghchi came in an interview with pan-Arab broadcaster Al Jazeera aired late Tuesday. He insisted that the messages didn’t constitute negotiations.

U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly described Iran and America has having talks over the war, while Pakistan has been a key intermediary along with Egypt and Turkey during the conflict.

“I receive messages from Witkoff directly, as before, and this does not mean that we are in negotiations,” he said.

He added: “We do not have any faith that negotiations with the U.S. will yield any results. The trust level is at zero.”

Asked about a possible ground offensive by the U.S., Araghchi said “we are waiting for them.”

“We know very well how to defend ourselves,” Araghchi reportedly told the Qatar-based broadcaster. “In a ground war, we can do it even better. We are completely ready to confront any sort of ground attack. We hope they do not make such a mistake.”

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said in a preliminary count early Wednesday 21 people were also wounded in the strike in Jnah.

The strike came without warning, and Israel did not declare the target. When it does, it often says it is targeting operatives from the Hezbollah militant group.

Emergency workers rushed to the scene to search for victims.

Israel’s military warned the public Wednesday a missile was incoming from Yemen, yet another attack from the country’s Houthi rebels who have just entered the war on Iran’s side.

Air raid sirens went off in southern Israel, from Beersheba to the Mediterranean coast.

The warning, just around dawn, broke a long lull, more than 19 hours since the last time Israel’s military warned of an incoming missile launch from Iran, and more than six hours from the last alarms in the northern part of Israel, which in past days received near-constant fire from Hezbollah in Lebanon.

A drone attack by Iran and its allies hit a fuel tank at Kuwait International Airport, sparking a fire, authorities said.

The state-run KUNA news agency said the attack early Wednesday sparked a “large fire” at the airport.

It said there were no immediate injuries from the attack and firefighters were working to control the blaze.

Kuwait International Airport has been attacked before by Iran during the war. The KUNA report suggested the attack may have been launched by Iranian-supported militias in Iraq with Tehran’s support.

In another strike, Bahrain said early on Wednesday morning that it was working to extinguish a fire at a business facility that resulted from an Iranian attack.

Israel said early Wednesday it struck a plant supplying Iran’s theocracy with fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, to allegedly use in a chemical weapons program. Iran acknowledged the strike on Tofigh Daru factory, but insisted it only supplied “hospital drugs” used in medical operations.

The strike happened Tuesday, both the Israelis and the Iranians said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted a picture of the factory in Tehran, writing on X: “The war criminals in Israel are now openly and unashamedly bombing pharmaceutical companies.”

Hospitals extensively use fentanyl to treat severe pain. But a small amount of the drug can be fatal.

Both Israel and the United States have warned in recent years Iran was experimenting with fentanyl in munitions. The U.S. previously pointed to Iranian academic research studying how Russia likely used a fentanyl derivative during the 2002 Moscow theater hostage seizure by Chechen militants.

Israel alleged Tofigh Daru supplied fentanyl to an advanced research institute in Tehran, known by its acronym SPND. The U.S alleges SPND has conducted research and testing that could be applicable to the development of nuclear explosive devices and other weapons.

The United Arab Emirates has barred Iranians from entering or transiting the country as the war rages, three major airlines said Wednesday.

Long-haul carriers Emirates and Etihad, as well as the lower-cost airline FlyDubai, made the announcements on their websites.

Entry rules can sometimes be opaque in the autocratic United Arab Emirates, a federation of seven sheikhdoms, the three airlines agreed on the order. It said holders of 10-year Golden Visa residency permits could still enter the country.

Authorities have offered no official comment. But Dubai has already shut down the city-state’s Iranian Hospital and Iranian Club, institutions that date back to the time of the shah.

Residents and Israeli security forces inspect a site struck by an Iranian missile in Petah Tikva, Israel, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

A man inspect the wreckage of an Iranian missile that landed near the West Bank village of Marda, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike hits a building near the airport road in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A family who fled Israeli shelling in southern Lebanon warm themselves by a bonfire next to tents used as shelters in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)