'A symbol of perseverance and hope'

Zehava Shaul, who led decade-long struggle to recover body of son held by Hamas, dies at 71

Leaders hail her as a brave, dedicated mother, who waged an uncompromising campaign to secure the return of Oron Shaul, who was killed and captured by Hamas in 2014

Zehava Shaul, the mother of Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul, who was killed and captured by Hamas in 2014 and whose body was held captive by the terror group for more than a decade, died Friday at the age of 71, her family said.

The family statement said she had died after a months-long struggle with a serious illness.

“Zehava was a woman of faith, determination and love for humanity. For more than a decade, she carried on her shoulders, with inspiring strength, the uncompromising struggle to return her son, Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul, for burial in Israel,” the family said.  “Her dedication, strength and endless love touched many hearts and became a symbol of perseverance, hope and great love.”

President Isaac Herzog paid tribute to her, calling her “a brave, determined and inspiring mother, who dedicated more than a decade to an uncompromising struggle to return her son” for burial in Israel.

“Zehava’s image will be etched in the heart of the nation as a mother who never gave up on her son for a moment, and as a symbol of perseverance and hope even in the most difficult moments. May her memory be blessed,” Herzog wrote.

Her husband Herzl Shaul died in 2016 and did not live to see the return of his son’s remains.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also hailed Shaul, saying that “Zehava did not give up for a second; even after her husband Herzl passed away, she carried the pain with exceptional emotional strength and acted out of boundless maternal love and with an awe-inspiring nobility of soul.”

On July 20, 2014, during the 2014 Gaza war — known in Israel as Operation Protective Edge — troops of the Golani Brigade’s 13th Battalion entered Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighborhood in an M-113 armored personnel carrier. The APC got stuck in one of the neighborhood’s narrow streets, and during attempts to extract it, the carrier came under attack by Hamas operatives launching anti-tank missiles.

Seven soldiers were killed in the incident, including Shaul, whose body was dragged away from the scene by Hamas operatives.

In another incident later in the 2014 war, Hamas captured the body of Lt. Hadar Goldin. For more than a decade, the two families led an apparently fruitless campaign to secure the release of their sons.

For many years, the Shaul family clung to the hopes that Oron was still alive, even though the IDF declared that he had been killed in action.

The Hamas terror group that had been holding him conducted a deliberate misinformation campaign, including publishing letters purporting to be from Oron, begging for his release.

“If it’s not 100 percent, I’m holding on [to the hope that he’s alive]. My heart tells me he’s alive,” she said in an interview a year after his capture.

During the years Goldin and Shaul were held, Hamas demanded the release of hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners, including top terror leaders,  in exchange for the two soldiers, something Israel was unwilling to do following the 2011 Gilad Shalit deal.

In that deal with Hamas, Israel released 1,027 Palestinian terror convicts in exchange for Shalit, an Israeli soldier who had been kidnapped in 2006. Many of the released prisoners — including the October 7, 2023, massacre mastermind Yahya Sinwar — returned to terror.

Despite Netanyahu’s praise for Zehava Shaul, and his assertion he had “closely accompanied her struggle,” she had at times accused Netanyahu of ignoring the plight of the Shaul and Goldin families.

Speaking at a protest in 2019 outside Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem to mark five years since Oron’s abduction, she said the prime minister has done “nothing” to bring back her son.

“I sent him to the army, I sent him to [the Gaza war], and it’s your responsibility to bring him home.

“You can’t run away from this, because I’m telling you that if you don’t return him, I will follow you anywhere you go. I won’t release you from this. I’ll bring Oron back myself if I have to, so pay attention,” Shaul said in remarks directed at Netanyahu.

“You’ve had many opportunities to bring back Oron and Hadar, but you’ve done nothing,” she said. “It’s unfortunate that you keep playing with us, you know how to make a thousand promises, but not keep any of them. It’s unbecoming for a prime minister.”

The situation changed after the October 7 massacre when Hamas killed some 1,200 people and took another 251 hostages in addition to Shaul and Goldin.

The IDF entered Gaza, fighting a devastating war against Hamas, and giving the military access to parts of the Strip and further intelligence.

Oron Shaul’s body was recovered in January 2025 in northern Gaza by the IDF and the Shin Bet security agency, with several special forces units, including the Navy’s Shayetet 13 commando unit and another elite force in the Military Intelligence Directorate, taking part.

The IDF said the operation was based on intelligence efforts from the past decade, which were ramped up during the war. The announcement of the recovery of Shaul’s body came just before a short-lived ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was supposed to take effect.

The body of Goldin was returned nine months later as part of the final exchange that saw the last of the hostages released under a US-brokered truce.

Speaking after Shaul’s body was returned, his mother conceded that she never thought she would live to see him return home.

“I thought it wouldn’t happen and now it has happened. I’m very emotional, and it’s hard for me to even speak,” she said

Zehava Shaul will be buried on Sunday in her hometown of Poria Ilit in northern Israel next to her husband and son. She is survived by her two other sons, Aviram and Ofek.