IDF unveils secret operation to recover body of fallen soldier Oron Shaul in Gaza

The Israeli military on Sunday revealed additional details of “Operation Red South,” a covert military operation that secured the body of IDF soldier Staff Sergeant Oron Shaul in Gaza last January. The mission was carried out in cooperation with the Israeli Security Agency, Shin Bet.

Shaul was killed during “Operation Protective Edge” in a battle against Hamas terrorists in Gaza City’s Shejaiya district in July 2014. Hamas operatives subsequently kidnapped Shaul's remains and kept them in Gaza for 11 years. A decade later, the Israel Defense Forces and the Shin Bet located and recovered the fallen soldier’s body after piecing together critical intelligence gathered through multiple interrogations of detained Hamas operatives.

Israeli intelligence officials ultimately secured critical information identifying the specific Gaza property where Shaul’s body had been kept, leading them to a key individual living at the site where it was hidden.

The mission to recover Shaul’s body was carried out by Sayeret Matkal, the IDF’s elite General Staff Reconnaissance Unit, with support from operatives of the Israeli Navy’s special forces unit, Shayetet 13. Former and current Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and former prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Ehud Barak, have all previously served in Sayeret Matkal.

In January 2025, Shaul’s body was retrieved from Gaza and later identified at the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute in Israel.

“We embrace the family and share their grief,” the IDF said in an official statement, describing the operation as “a significant intelligence and operational undertaking that lasted over the past decade.”

"The IDF and ISA worked around the clock for many years to bring Oron, may his memory be a blessing, to burial in Israel,” the statement continued.

“I embrace the dear Shaul family, and congratulate the Shin Bet and IDF forces for their resourcefulness and courage,” Netanyahu said in an official statement at the time.

Shaul's remains are buried at the local cemetery in Poriya Illit, near the Sea of Galilee.