Zehava Shaul, Mother of Fallen Golani Fighter Oron Shaul, Dies After Cancer Battle

Zehava Shaul, mother of Golani Brigade soldier Staff Sergeant Oron Shaul, passed away following a prolonged battle with cancer. For over a decade, she led a public campaign to secure the return of her son, who was kidnapped to the Gaza Strip during Operation Protective Edge in 2014. Oron Shaul's body was finally returned to Israel in a special IDF and Shin Bet operation named "Shuvu Beyadenu" on January 18, 2025, after being held by Hamas for ten years.

Throughout the years, Zehava Shaul, alongside her family, actively engaged with Israeli political and security officials as well as international entities to raise awareness and push for her son's return. Her husband, Hertzel Shaul, died of illness in 2016 and did not live to see Oron's body repatriated. Oron Shaul was killed in combat on July 20, 2014, in Shuja'iyya when the M-113 armored personnel carrier he was in was hit by an anti-tank missile. He was posthumously awarded the President's Citation on Israel's Independence Day 2014.

Following the return of Oron's remains, he was buried in the Poria cemetery, where Zehava is also expected to be laid to rest. Her death marks the end of a long chapter of personal and public struggle to bring closure to her family and honor her son's memory.