Prosecutors on Thursday filed an indictment against Ibrahim Hilo, a 46-year-old Gaza resident, accusing him of holding the body of soldier Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul for Hamas for more than a decade.
Shaul was killed in July 2014 during the Gaza war. His body was taken by Hamas terrorists after an anti-tank missile hit an armored personnel carrier carrying soldiers from an infantry unit in Gaza City’s Shijaiyah neighborhood. Six other soldiers were killed in the same incident, and two were seriously wounded.
According to the indictment, filed at the Be'er Sheva District Court, Hilo knew Shaul’s body was being held as a bargaining chip for Hamas in negotiations with Israel.
Hilo is charged with aiding the enemy in wartime, membership in a terrorist organization and weapons offenses for terrorist purposes. The charge of aiding the enemy in wartime is considered unusual because Hilo has no citizenship or formal connection to Israel. The case was investigated by the domestic security agency, the police serious crimes unit and the military.
According to the indictment, Hilo was recruited in 2001 to Hamas’ religious studies system, and about two years later joined the group’s armed wing. Prosecutors say he remained active in Hamas, at times, in various roles until 2024.
The indictment says that on the day Shaul was killed in 2014, a Hamas operative contacted Hilo and asked to meet him. During the meeting, the operative told him he had a “deposit” he wanted him to keep for a short period: a body.
Hilo understood that it was the body of a soldier and agreed, prosecutors said. He allegedly stored Shaul’s body in a large meat freezer at his business and was instructed to reduce his military activity so as not to draw attention. The body was later moved to another locked freezer provided to him.
According to prosecutors, Hilo personally held Shaul’s body until October 2023, when he left his home during the war that began after Hamas’ October 7 attack.
On January 18, 2025, security forces recovered Shaul’s body from Hilo’s home and brought it back to Israel.
In a request to keep Hilo in custody until the end of legal proceedings, prosecutor Asaf Bar Yosef wrote that Hilo secretly held the body for Hamas for more than ten years, knowing it was the body of a soldier killed and abducted by the terror group.
Prosecutors said Hilo also knew the body was intended to be used by Hamas as leverage in negotiations with Israel for the release of terrorists held in prisons, and that his actions were meant to assist the enemy in its war against Israel.