The Israeli occupation army announced on Sunday the death of Hadar Goldin, a soldier who had been missing in the Gaza Strip earlier on Friday.

The Israeli occupation army announced on Sunday the death of Hadar Goldin, a soldier who had been missing in the Gaza Strip earlier on Friday.

A special committee led by the army's chief rabbi said Lieutenant Goldin had been "killed in battle in the Gaza Strip on Friday", the occupation army said in a statement.

Military radio said that no body had been recovered, adding that this made the decision to announce Goldin's death a "very delicate" one.

There was no government word on the whereabouts of the soldier's remains.

The Israeli side had previously suggested that 23-year-old Goldin had been captured by Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas in Gaza.

Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, had acknowledged its fighters carried out a qualitative operation early Friday in which two other Israeli soldiers were killed, but denied holding Goldin.