Israel has said that it had recovered the body of a soldier killed in combat in 2014 and held in Gaza by Hamas ever since, AFP reports.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that the body of Oron Shaul, who was killed on July 20, 2014, was recovered in an operation by the army and the Shin Bet security agency.

“In a special… operation, before the ceasefire takes effect, we returned to Israel the remains of Golani Brigade fighter Oron Shaul”, he said. The recovery of Shaul’s body was announced earlier by the Israeli military. Shaul was killed during the six-week-long 2014 Gaza conflict.

In a televised briefing, military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said: “This was a significant intelligence and operational undertaking that lasted over the past decade since his fall and abduction, and especially during the (current) war and over the past few days.”

Shaul was one of two soldiers killed during the 2014 conflict whose bodies were still being held in Gaza. The body of Hadar Goldin remains in the Palestinian territory, according to AFP.