Secret Operation Led to Arrest: Indictment Planned Against Hamas Terrorist Who Held Oron Shaul’s Body

The Shin Bet, Israel Police, and IDF Spokesperson said Tuesday afternoon that, following a joint investigative effort, a prosecutor’s declaration was filed this morning against a Hamas terrorist who held the body of fallen soldier Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul, of blessed memory, in Gaza.

As previously reported, in January 2025 the Shin Bet and the IDF launched Operation "Red South," during which the body of abducted fallen soldier Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul was returned to Israel. Shaul was killed in battle in Shejaiya on 20/07/2014 during Operation "Protective Edge," and his body was abducted by Hamas.

It can now be made public that, as part of the efforts to bring back Staff Sgt. Shaul, a covert operation was carried out to arrest Ibrahim Hilo, a Hamas terrorist in the Shati Battalion. During the Shin Bet and Israel Police investigation, information was obtained about his involvement in holding the abducted soldier’s body, and the terrorist was arrested in Gaza and brought in for Shin Bet questioning.

During Hilo’s Shin Bet interrogation, it emerged that he had held Shaul’s body for close to ten years. Precise information was also obtained about the location where the body was being kept — a civilian building in Gaza City. In a complex operation by the Shin Bet and Military Intelligence, just minutes before the ceasefire took effect, Staff Sgt. Shaul’s body was recovered and brought to Israel for burial.

This morning, a prosecutor’s declaration was filed against Ibrahim Hilo, and on Thursday the Southern District Attorney’s Office (Criminal) is expected to file an indictment with the Be’er Sheva District Court charging him with serious security offenses.