WATCH: Israeli popstar Idan Amedi sings as fallen soldier Oron Shaul is lai

The long wait is finally over for the Shaul family. On a crisp Monday afternoon in northern Israel, thousands gathered at Poriya Illit cemetery to lay Staff Sergeant Oron Shaul to rest, nearly a decade after Hamas captured his body during Operation Protective Edge in 2014.

"You promised to bring him back - and you fulfilled it," Zehava Shaul told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an emotional exchange before the funeral. Her words carried the weight of nine years of waiting, hoping, and fighting for her son's return.

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In a powerful eulogy that brought many to tears, President Isaac Herzog addressed the painful delay in bringing Shaul home. "I turn to you, dear Shaul family, in the name of the entire State of Israel - and ask for your forgiveness," Herzog said, his voice heavy with emotion. "Forgiveness for the torturous years you all went through, waiting for a son and brother to return."

The president's words hit particularly hard as he mentioned Shaul's late father, Herzl, who passed away before seeing his son returned. "He didn't merit this small grace - to see Oron return, to accompany him to burial in a Jewish grave," Herzog said.

The timing of Shaul's return carries special significance, coming just days after Israel secured the release of three female hostages - Romi, Doron, and Emily - from Hamas captivity. The contrast between joyful reunions and solemn burial underscores the ongoing complexities of Israel's hostage crisis.

The recovery of Shaul's remains was the result of a covert operation by IDF and Shin Bet forces in Gaza. Major General Ghasan Alyan, who commanded the Golani Brigade during the 2014 operation where Shaul fell, visited the family to express condolences and reaffirm the military's commitment to returning all hostages.

In what officers described as an "emotional closing of the circle," soldiers from Battalion 51 participated in the recovery operation - the same unit where Shaul served when he fell in battle in Saja'iyya on that fateful July day in 2014.

Netanyahu pledged to continue efforts to recover all remaining hostages, both living and deceased. "We will not rest or be quiet until we return Hadar Goldin and all our hostages home," he declared, referring to another soldier whose body remains in Hamas captivity.

Beloved Israeli popstar, Idan Amedi, who has his own battle scars courtesy of seving in the IDF, sand at oron's funeral.

Mourners come to pay their final respects to fallen IDF soldier Oron Shaul

The military's terse statement belied the years of intelligence gathering and planning that led to this moment: "The efforts to return him continued throughout the past decade and with greater intensity during the war." After scientific confirmation from the Institute of Forensic Medicine and religious verification by the Military Rabbinate, Oron Shaul's journey home was complete.

His mother's words to the Prime Minister echoed the biblical verse they recited together: "There is hope for your future... and the children shall return to their borders." For the Shaul family, that promise has finally been fulfilled, even if not in the way they had once hoped.