An Israeli soldier killed in action during the 2014 war in the Gaza Strip was buried in Israel on Monday, after his remains were brought back by the Israeli army the day before.
Oron Shaoul was 21 years old at the time of his death on July 20, 2014, when the military vehicle he was in exploded during a military operation in Gaza City (north) which also claimed the lives of six other soldiers.
Oron Shaoul and another soldier, Hadar Goldin, whose remains remain in Gaza, have been at the center of indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas for years. The two dead soldiers, as well as two civilians presumed alive who entered the Gaza Strip respectively in 2014 and 2015 and still held in the Palestinian territory, are among the list of hostages at the heart of the ceasefire agreement with the Hamas entered into force on Sunday.
Oron Shaoul’s body was recovered by Israeli forces during a special military operation overnight from Saturday to Sunday, according to the army. Israel counts them in addition to the 91 people kidnapped during the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 on Israeli soil and again in Gaza.
The two civilians also appear on the list of 30 hostages to be released in the next six weeks under the agreement between Hamas and Israel, according to the Islamist movement. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who spoke with the soldier’s mother, Zehava Shaoul, told her that “the mission” of bringing back his body had always been in his thoughts, according to a statement from his office.
-Israel “will not rest until we bring back Hadar Goldin and all our hostages, the living and the dead,” added Mr. Netanyahu. Israeli President Isaac Herzog, present at the funeral, for his part asked “forgiveness” from the family for the fact that the State of Israel was not able to bring him back sooner.
Oron Shaoul was 21 years old at the time of his death on July 20, 2014, when the military vehicle he was in during an operation…
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