The Shin Bet and the IDF on Sunday revealed new details from their secret operation one year ago in Gaza City to rescue the remains of Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul, whom Hamas had held since 2014.
In a series of clandestine operations, the two agencies put together more and more pieces of a complex puzzle until they located Shaul.
Their initial breakthrough came from interrogations of Hamas prisoners, which led to the general location of Shaul's remains at a civilian site.
Interrogation led Israeli forces to exact location of Shaul's body
Next, the Sayeret Matkal special forces were sent to arrest a key figure relating to the civilian site.
During the interrogation of that key figure, he revealed the exact location of Shaul's body.
The next day, the Shin bet and the Shayetet 13 navy seals, along with the 188th Tank Brigade of Division 162 carried out yet another special operation to retrieve the body itself.
Shaul was murdered and kidnapped by Hamas during the 2014 Gaza conflict, and his remains were returned to Israel on January 19, 2025, just before what became a second temporary ceasefire went into effect.
A statement said that special measures were taken not to endanger other hostages known to be in Gaza City at the time.
This was only a few months after Hamas killed six Israeli hostages in the southern Gazan city of Rafah when IDF troops came too close to where the hostages were being held, spooking their guards.