Eli Shtivi, the father of Idan Shtivi, whose body was recovered from the Gaza Strip last week, revealed on Sunday that his son was a fighter in a special unit.
"Yesterday, official sources told me that Idan, may G-d avenge him, was not murdered in our territory," Eli said in an interview with Radio Kol Berama.
He revealed: "Now I can tell you that he was a fighter in a special unit and he struggled and fought them (the terrorists) until they shot him in the back like cowards and took him to Gaza where they abused his body and buried him."
The father further shared that "as long as I wasn't notified, I believed he was still alive to maintain sanity, I prayed every morning and donned tefillin. While I didn't merit having my son returned alive, these prayers were not for naught; they went to the rest of the hostages. Idan was an Israeli hero. We will make an honorable funeral like someone who saved Jews deserves.