Israel says remains of last hostage recovered in Gaza, paving way for phase two of ceasefire with Hamas

Israel said on Monday that the remains of the last hostage in Gaza had been recovered, paving the way for the next phase of the ceasefire that ended the Israel-Hamas war. The announcement came a day after the Israeli government said the army carried out a “major operation” at a cemetery in northern Gaza to locate Ran Gvili’s remains.

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

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

“This means that all abductees have been returned from the Gaza Strip,” the IDF said.

Israel and Hamas are under pressure from ceasefire mediators, including the Trump administration, to move to the second phase of the US-brokered ceasefire, which came into effect on October 10.

Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of taking too long to retrieve the last hostage. Hamas had said it had provided all the information it had about Gvili’s remains, and accused Israel of hampering efforts to search for them in areas of Gaza under Israeli military control.

Both sides have accused the other of ceasefire violations since it took 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 CBS News.

The Israeli military said this attack, like other fatalities during the ceasefire, is being investigated but claims its forces struck suspects who posed a threat to the security of troops.

In a statement on Monday, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said the recovery of Gvili’s body “affirms Hamas’s commitment to all terms of the agreement to end the war in the Gaza Strip, including the exchange process 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 US in particular, to force Israel to “stop its violations of the agreement and fulfill the obligations required of it.”

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

The ceasefire aims to end the war sparked by the Hamas-led terrorist attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed around 1,200 people and took 251 others hostage. The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza says more than 71,000 people have been killed in the territory during the war, a figure that CBS News 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,” was killed in a battle with Hamas militants during the attack.

Before Gvili’s remains were recovered, twenty living hostages and the remains of 27 others had been returned to Israel during the ceasefire. recently in early December. Israel, in return, released the bodies of hundreds of Palestinians to Gaza.

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

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

Meanwhile, Mr. Trump has done just that launched its new international Board of Peace initiativeinviting dozens of countries to join his government on a vaguely defined mission to end conflict in the Middle East, and suggesting ambitions beyond the region.

Although the Peace Council was often mentioned by Trump as an entity that would focus on rebuilding the decimated Gaza Strip, the Palestinian territory was not explicitly mentioned in the council’s founding charter, which was signed by Trump and about two dozen other national leaders last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

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

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