IDF Forces Return to Tunnel Where Hadar Goldin Was Held
Nearly a month after intelligence uncovered the underground site where Lt. Hadar Goldin had been held, IDF units plunged deep beneath Rafah—descending some 20 meters—to breach the vast subterranean network known as “Dror Lavan.” Yahalom fighters, Shayetet 13 operatives, and engineering teams from the Gaza Division operated together in unusually harsh underground terrain.
Captain M, who commands a Yahalom company, describes a labyrinth that defied imagination. Calling it “one of the longest tunnels in the Gaza Strip,” he explains that the network amounted to a “metro,” stretching roughly 7 to 10 kilometers. “Additionally, its structure is especially challenging—twisted, split, and branched, with dozens of Hamas senior leaders’ living and command rooms inside,” he says, emphasizing the complexity hidden far below Rafah’s surface.
Long before the forces broke into the concrete arteries of the tunnel, intelligence officers had been piecing together the clues pointing to Hadar’s location. Roughly eighteen months earlier, once that intelligence solidified, combat engineers and special units launched a sustained operation, dismantling terror infrastructure as they searched for a precise point of entry. The process was grueling. “The work was Sisyphean and methodical—it wasn’t easy at all,” Captain M recalls. “But not a day went by without thinking of Hadar, which constantly reminded us why we were there.”
Inside, claustrophobia greeted the soldiers instantly. The passageway was tight, the ceiling low, and the walls coated with thin white panels mimicking tiles. Airflow was limited; darkness and suffocation were constant. As they advanced, soldiers pried away those panels, never knowing what each one concealed. “We understood that behind each tile, we could find Hadar, a command room, or a hideout for terrorists,” says Captain M, describing the pressure of every moment underground.
The operation’s success depended heavily on cooperation between IDF units. Shayetet 13 was responsible for deciphering the geometry of the tunnel system itself. “When the mission began, we started an in-depth process of learning the layout,” explains Lt. Col. G, a senior Shayetet 13 officer. “We tried to understand the tunnel’s length and depth and its route, using various technological tools we had.”
Once the mapping phase matured, the soldiers moved from study to action. Teams carved access points for engineers to enter specific sections, all while the search for Hadar continued in parallel. It was a slow, technical advance, demanding precision at every meter of progress.
Above ground, engineering battalions maneuvered in lockstep with the fighters below. “We worked on two channels,” says Lt. Col. R, the Gaza Division’s engineering officer. “The special forces, like Yahalom, fought inside the tunnel itself, actively searching for findings, while the battalion operated above ground, near the tunnel’s surroundings.”
The initial stage inside “Dror Lavan” was anything but quiet. Confrontations broke out repeatedly as troops encountered heavily entrenched militants. Clearing the “red forces” became essential before any meaningful underground work could advance. Soldiers engaged in numerous close-range battles to secure even small sections of the passageway.
Progress often meant peeling away tile after tile—day after day, week after week. “Each time, we marked off another part of the tunnel, another wing, and another twist,” Captain M recounts. Along the way, they uncovered Hamas living quarters, weapons stores, and command sites hidden behind those seemingly simple panels. The discoveries sharpened the soldiers’ awareness of how meticulously Hamas had embedded itself underground. “These moments made clear the danger and cunning of the terrorists and underscored the importance of our work—there is nothing more satisfying,” he says.
Only after the ceasefire agreement that finally allowed Lt. Goldin’s remains to be brought back to Israel—a moment of profound national and personal significance—did the soldiers fully reflect on the magnitude of their mission. After securing control of the tunnel system, they could finally articulate what it meant to operate in total darkness for so many months. “We were there for a year and a half, with each day filled with numerous challenges. In the end, we were able to contribute to Hadar’s return,” concludes Lt. Col. G. “Even when the darkness felt endless and the narrow walls surrounded us, we knew why we were there. That kept us going, even when it was hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
{Matzav.com}
