The seventh, missing soldier from the APC that was attacked by Hamas in Shejaiya, Gaza, on Sunday, is Sgt. Oron Shaul of the Golani Brigade.
A representative of the Shaul family who spoke to the press outside the family home, Raheli Gazit, said that as far as the family is concerned, "as long as the inquiries are not over and as long as the IDF is still working on it and there is no conclusive evidence on the subject from the police's viewpoint, Oron is not dead and that is something that we find important to say, especially in light of all of the reports in the media."
The bodies of the other six soldiers who were in the APC have been identified.
Shaul, 21, is from Poriya. The process of identification of his remains is ongoing and is being carried out by the MIA Location Branch in the IDF's Personnel Directorate and by the Military Rabbinate.
Major General Orna Barbivai, Head of the Personnel Directorate, has met Sgt. Shaul's parents and told them that the chances that he is alive are slim.
The IDF is looking into the suspicion that Shaul's body was abducted from the APC by Hamas.
A military source estimated that Hamas has gotten hold of the soldier's dogtag or uniform, but not of his body. Apparently, UAV footage shows that the terrorists did not manage to reach the soldiers' bodies.
The IDF said Tuesday that it has completed the process of identifying the bodies from the Golani Brigade APC hit by the enemy in Shejaiya Sunday. “In view of the complexity of the event,” the military said, “the bodies of six fallen soldiers have been identified positively.”
"Efforts to identify and find out information about the seventh soldier continue to take place on all channels.”
The IDF has informed the families of the soldiers and is in constant contact with them.
Hamas has said that it abducted the seventh soldier from the APC, sparking celebrations in numerous Arab cities and towns. Israel denied that this was true. It named him as Shaul Aaron or Oron, and provided a military ID number.
"There is no kidnapped Israeli soldier and those rumors are untrue," said Israel's UN Ambassador Ron Prosor when asked about the alleged kidnapping.
Hamas's claims prompting celebrations in the streets of Gaza City. "The Israeli soldier Shaul Aaron is in the hands of the Qassam Brigades," a spokesman using the kunya name Abu Obeida said in a televised address. "He is a prisoner, and if Zionists lie about the dead and wounded, then the fate of this soldier is their responsibility," the spokesman said.
There have been celebrations in the Arab neighborhoods in and around Jerusalem and elsewhere in Judea and Samaria, following allegations of the soldier's capture.
The other six fallen soldiers from the APC are:
Sergeant Max Steinberg, 24, Be'er Sheva.
Sergeant First Class Shachar Tase, 21, from Pardesiah.
Sergeant First Class Daniel Pomeranz, 20, from Kfar Azar.
Sergeant Shon Mondshine, 19, from Tel Aviv.
Sergeant Ben Itzhak Oanounou, 19, from Ashdod.
Sergeant First Class Oren Simcha Noach, 22, from Hoshaya.
For more details about the six fallen comrades and funeral arrangements, click here.