JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military says an Israel soldier Hamas claimed to have captured in the Gaza Strip earlier this week was in fact killed in battle on that day.

The Islamic militant Hamas announced late Sunday that it was holding Oron Shaul and gave his purported military ID. An Israeli soldier in the hands of Hamas could have been a game changer in the current round of Israel-Hamas fighting and efforts to end it.

The military said in an announcement Friday that Shaul was killed in battle in Gaza on Sunday.

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