Israel says remains of last hostage recovered from Gaza, clearing way for second phase of ceasefire with Hamas

Israel said on Monday that the remains of the last hostage in Gaza had been recovered, clearing the way for the next phase of the ceasefire that halted the War between Israel and Hamas. The announcement came a day after Israel’s government said the military was carrying out a “large-scale operation” at a cemetery in northern Gaza to locate the remains of Ran Gvili.

The return of all remaining hostages, dead or alive, has been a key part of the first phase of the ceasefire in Gaza, and Gvili’s family had urged the Israeli government not to enter the second phase until their remains were recovered and returned.

In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces said its representatives had informed Gvili’s family “that their loved one has been identified and is being buried.”

“With this, all abductees have been returned from the Gaza Strip,” the IDF said.

Israel and Hamas have been under pressure from ceasefire mediators, including the Trump administration, to move to the second phase of the US-brokered truce, which took effect on October 10.

Israel had repeatedly accused Hamas of dragging its feet in recovering the last hostage. Hamas had said it had provided all the information it had about Gvili’s remains and accused Israel of obstructing efforts to search for them in areas of Gaza under Israeli military control.

Both sides have accused each other of violations of the ceasefire since it came into effect, and dozens of Palestinians have been killed since October, including three journalists. killed in an Israeli attack last week, one of whom had worked extensively for News themezone.

Israel’s military said about that attack, as well as other fatal cases during the ceasefire, that it was investigating, but said its forces had attacked suspects who posed a threat to the safety of troops.

In a statement on Monday, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said the recovery of Gvili’s body “confirms Hamas’s commitment to all the terms of the agreement to stop the war in the Gaza Strip, including the exchange route and its full completion in accordance with the agreement. Hamas will continue to adhere to all aspects of the agreement, including facilitating the work of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza and ensuring its success.”

Qassem called on all ceasefire mediators, and the United States in particular, to force Israel “to stop its violations of the agreement and to implement the obligations required of it.”

Israel’s military had said the large-scale operation to locate Gvili’s remains was “in the area of ​​the Yellow Line,” which has divided the territory since the ceasefire came into effect.

The ceasefire agreement aims to end the war that was sparked by the Hamas-led terrorist attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which some 1,200 people were killed and another 251 were taken hostage. Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry says more than 71,000 people died in the territory during the war, a figure that News themezone cannot independently verify and that Israel disputes, although the United Nations considers it the most accurate estimate of the death toll available.

Gvili, a 24-year-old police officer affectionately known as “Rani,” died while fighting Hamas militants during the attack.

Before Gvili’s remains were recovered, 20 live hostages and the remains of 27 others were returned to Israel during the ceasefire, most recently at the beginning of december. In exchange, Israel has delivered the bodies of hundreds of Palestinians to Gaza.

The next phase of the 20-point ceasefire plan calls for the creation of an international stabilization force, the formation of a technocratic Palestinian government and the disarmament of Hamas.

President Trump has repeatedly warned that if Hamas refuses to disarm in accordance with the deal, “there will be hell to pay.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Trump has launched its new international initiative Peace Boardinviting dozens of nations to join his administration in a vaguely defined mission to end conflicts in the Middle East and suggesting ambitions beyond the region.

While Trump often mentioned the Peace Board as an entity that would focus on rebuilding the decimated Gaza Strip, the Palestinian territory was not explicitly mentioned in the board’s founding letter, signed by Trump and 20 other national leaders during the World Economic Forum in Davos last week.

European nations, America’s oldest and closest allies, have so far refused to join the council, and major rival powers China and Russia have also taken a wait-and-see attitude with the initiative.