Hamas shares location of Israeli soldier’s body with mediators under truce deal

Hamas has said it informed mediators of the location of the body of the last Israeli soldier held in Gaza and that Israeli forces are searching an area based on the information provided.

The Palestinian resistance group shared “all available details” with mediators regarding the body of Israeli soldier Ran Gvili, the spokesperson of Hamas’ armed wing, Qassam Brigades, said in a statement on Sunday.

“The (Israeli) enemy is now conducting searches in one of the locations based on the information we provided,” he said, adding that the group handled the issue of hostages and remains “with full transparency.”

He said the Qassam Brigades fulfilled its obligations under the ceasefire agreement by handing over all hostages and remains “as quickly as possible”, accusing Israel of failing to fully comply with the deal.

He added that the group was seeking to close the file and called on mediators to ensure implementation of the agreement.

Israel said that it is searching for the remains of Gvili, and the search operation began over the weekend, “based on intelligence information that his body was buried at a Muslim cemetery in eastern Gaza City, near the neighbourhoods of Shejaiya, Daraj, and Tuffah,” according to The Times of Israel newspaper.

The office of the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said the search effort in northern Gaza for Gvili’s body will “continue as long as necessary”, the newspaper reported.

In recent months, Israel has linked the reopening of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt to the return of the body of its last hostage from Gaza.

Rafah crossing

The Rafah crossing, linking Gaza and Egypt, was slated to reopen in October under the first phase of a ceasefire agreement that took effect on October 10, but Israel did not comply.

While Ali Shaath, head of a technocratic committee tasked with running Gaza, announced that the Rafah crossing would reopen next week during a televised speech following the signing of the “Board of Peace” charter in Davos, the Israeli side has not confirmed this.

Since the first phase of the ceasefire, Palestinian factions have released 20 Israeli hostages alive and returned the remains of 27 others. The body of Gvili remains outstanding.

The second phase of the agreement stipulates an additional withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the launch of reconstruction efforts, which the UN estimates will cost about $70 billion.

Israel has killed more than 71,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in Gaza since October 2023, a genocide that also left the territory in ruins.

Despite the ceasefire, Israel has continued to carry out attacks, killing 484 Palestinians and wounding 1,321, according to the Health Ministry.