Israel rejects protest tent by family of soldier lost in Gaza

The Israeli municipality of Jerusalem has refused to allow the family of Israeli soldier who went missing in Gaza, Oron Shaul, to erect a tent in front of the prime minister’s office in protest against the lack of progress in recovering him, Channel 10 reported yesterday.

The municipality had previously allowed the family of the former Israeli soldier captured by Palestinian resistance forces in Gaza Gilad Shalit to setup a similar tent.

Commenting on the news about the ban, the municipality said: “The administrational measures in the city do not ban having protest tents in front of the PM’s office or in the nearby Flowers Garden the whole day until 11pm.”

However, it said, erecting a permanent tent is rejected because it is a residential area; noting that it informed the family about its decision and told them that it would them find an alternative.

Shaul’s family has been seeking to spread awareness of his disappearance during Israel’s 51-day war on the Strip in 2014. Another soldier also went missing during the offensive.

Israel announced the two were dead adding that it was working to recover their bodies, however earlier this week, the Safa news agency reported anonymous sources hinting that Shaul is alive and that he had “fainted” when he watched the funeral of his father who died of cancer on Friday.