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Courtesy the family on 19 January, 2025
Israeli Forces in Gaza Recover Body of Soldier Killed in 2014
Jerusalem, 19 January, 2025 (TPS-IL) -- Less than one hour before a ceasefire with Hamas was due to take effect, the Israel Defense Forces announced on Sunday morning that it had recovered the body of Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul in Gaza.
The announcement did not specify where in Gaza the body was recovered. Shaul’s family was notified after the body was positively identified at the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute in Tel Aviv.
“I embrace the dear members of the Shaul family and congratulate the Shin Bet and IDF forces for their resourcefulness and courage,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Shaul, who would be 34 today, was killed on July 20, 2014 in Gaza City’s Shejaya neighborhood. He and six other soldiers were killed when their armored personnel carrier was attacked by anti-tank missiles.
Shaul is survived by his parents and two brothers.
“In the past 15 months, the members of the Shaul family have become an inseparable part of the headquarters of the families and we grieve with them, and now we welcome the right to bring Oron to the burial in Israel for which they have been waiting for over 10 years,” said the Headquarters of the Families of the Abductees
Hamas also holds the body of Lt. Hadar Goldin, who was killed in Rafah on Aug. 1, 2014.
The first phase of the ceasefire will see 33 Israeli hostages freed over a period of several days in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian terrorists imprisoned in Israel. The exact number will depend on how many of the 33 hostages are alive.
Meanwhile, Israel’s High Court of Justice rejected a legal petition against the release of the Palestinians.
At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 95 remaining hostages, more than 30 have been declared dead.
