“This is closure for the family ... it’s hard to express in words what I'm feeling,” said Shaul’s brother, Aviram.
Israel Defense Forces Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul, whose body was recovered from Gaza by Israeli security forces on Sunday, was set to be laid to rest in Porio Illit, just west of the Sea of Galilee, on Monday at 2 p.m.
Shaul fell in combat in the Gaza neighborhood of Shuja’iyya on July 20, 2014, during the IDF’s “Operation Protective Edge.” His remains were held by Hamas for more than 10 years.
“I didn’t believe I’d reach this moment. I have chills all over,” his mother Zehava told Ynet. “I want to thank all those who made the supreme effort to return Oron to me; what I thought would not happen. Here, it happened. I am very excited. It’s hard for me to even speak. I am very grateful to the prime minister and the defense establishment. I thank all the soldiers … I hope all the abductees who are still in Gaza will return,” she said.