The IDF has found the body of an Israeli military officer killed in 2014 in the Gaza Strip

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has found the body of soldier Oron Shaul, who was killed in 2014, in the Gaza Strip. IDF spokeswoman Anna Ukolova said on January 19.

"In a joint IDF and Shabak (Israel's General Security Service. - Ed.) operation in the Gaza Strip, the body of Oron Shaul, who was killed on July 20, 2014 during Operation Unbreakable Rock and his body was held by the Hamas terrorist organization, was found and brought to Israel," she wrote in her Telegram channel.

Ukolova added that information about the body's location was passed on to the family of the deceased military officer.

As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu noted, the special operation to recover Shaul's body was carried out "before the cease-fire came into effect" in the Gaza Strip.

"Our commitment remains unwavering: we will continue to work to bring home all of our captives, both living and fallen," The Jerusalem Post quoted Netanyahu as saying.

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In the first phase, 33 captives are to be released - will this be a step towards a settlement

Earlier in the day, Netanyahu said that a cease-fire agreement in the Gaza Strip can only become effective when Israel receives a list of hostages to be released from the Palestinian Hamas movement. The Palestinian movement, in turn, said that the delay in providing the list was due to technical reasons

As the media reported on January 18, Hamas is to release three Israeli hostages on Sunday as part of the fulfillment of the clauses of the ceasefire agreement with Israel in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli Justice Ministry, in turn, compiled and published a list of 735 Palestinian prisoners to be released in the first phase of the agreement.

Theceasefire in the Gaza Strip was to begin on the morning of January 19, as agreed by both sides and the mediators. The Israeli government approved the agreement with the Palestinian Hamas movement on Jan. 17 following a six-hour meeting.

The Gaza ceasefire agreement was announced on January 15. The next day, the Ministry of Defense and the IDF began preparations to implement the agreement. In particular, the State Defense Ministry's Directorate of Checkpoints and the Design Department will be involved in the implementation of the deal in order to speed up logistics.

The situation in the Middle East escalated on the morning of October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a massive rocket attack from the Gaza Strip into Israel. On the same day, Israel began retaliatory strikes.