After over a year of dismantling and investigation, the IDF revealed the “White Sparrow” tunnel system under Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, where the remains of Lt. Hadar Goldin had been held since Operation Protective Edge in 2014.
Excavation and the search for Goldin’s remains were conducted by soldiers of the IDF’s elite Shayetet 13 and Yahalom units and assisted by the military’s Combat Engineering Corps.
“We tried to figure out the tunnel’s length and depth and where it led using multiple tools at our disposal,” explained Lt.-Col. G, a platoon commander in Shayetet 13. After the initial assessment was completed, the team mapped the tunnel network to create access points for the Combat Engineering Corps.
“It’s almost like a subway,” Yahalom commander Capt. M said, explaining that the tunnel stretched approximately 7-10 km., leading to dozens of living quarters and Hamas command posts.
He described the tiles lining the tunnels’ walls, each of which had to be removed to search for hidden shafts, and said that “behind each tile, we could find Hadar, a command post, or a terrorist hideout.”
“We were effectively working on two fronts,” Lt.-Col. R of the Gaza Division’s Engineering Corps said. “Special forces, like Yahalom, operated inside the tunnel, actively searching for clues, while the battalion worked above ground.”
'Hadar kept us going, even when we couldn’t see the light'
“We discovered a large command and living area behind one of the tiles,” Capt. M said, noting that weapons and other equipment were also found during the search for Goldin. “These moments showed us [Hamas’s] danger and cunning and reinforced the importance of our mission.”
“The work was meticulous and exhausting; it wasn’t easy at all. Not a day went by that Hadar wasn’t on our minds, always reminding us why we were there.”
Goldin’s remains were returned to Israel in November 2025 as part of the US-backed Gaza peace deal.
“We were there for a year and a half, facing new challenges every day, and in the end, we helped bring Hadar home,” Lt.-Col. G concluded. “Even when the darkness felt endless and the narrow walls seemed to close in on us, we knew what we were working toward.”
“The thought of Hadar kept us going, even when we couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.”