Israeli army searching for body of last remaining hostage in Gaza

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed that it was searching for the remains of Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, the last remaining hostage held in the Gaza Strip, on the Israeli side of the ceasefire line in the enclave’s north.

Israel has resisted moving forward with phase 2 of U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza - including reopening the Rafah Crossing between the Strip and Egypt - before Gvili’s body has been returned.

The search operation began over the weekend, based on intelligence information that the body was buried at a Muslim cemetery in eastern Gaza City.

Troops and forensic experts, including dentists, were operating in the area in an attempt to locate and identify Gvili’s remains and bring them back to Israel for burial, according to the army.

Hamas said earlier that the IDF was searching for Gvili’s remains based on information that it had provided to mediators.

“We affirm that we have conveyed to the mediators all the details and information that we have regarding the location of the prisoner’s body. What confirms this is that Israel is currently searching in one of the locations based on information given to the mediators by the Qassam Brigades,” a spokesman for Hamas’s armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, said.