Israel says remains of final hostage in Gaza have been recovered

People in Tel Aviv, Israel, hold signs with a photo of Ran Gvili, who was killed while fighting Hamas militants during the October 7 2023 attack (Leo Correa/AP)

Israel says the remains of the final hostage in Gaza have been recovered, clearing the way for the next phase of the ceasefire that stopped the Israel-Hamas war.

Monday’s announcement came a day after Israel’s government said the military was conducting a “large-scale operation” in a cemetery in northern Gaza to locate the remains of Ran Gvili.

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

A yellow block demarcating the “Yellow Line”, which has separated the Gaza Strip’s Israeli-held and Palestinian zones since the October ceasefire, is visible in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP)

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

Israel had repeatedly accused Hamas of dragging its feet in the recovery of the final hostage.

Hamas had said it had provided all the information it had about Mr Gvili’s remains, and accused Israel of obstructing efforts to search for them in areas of Gaza under Israeli military control.

Israel’s military had said the large-scale operation to locate Mr Gvili’s remains was “in the area of the Yellow Line” that divides the territory.

The ceasefire deal aims to wind down the war that was sparked by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7 2023 that killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage.

Mr Gvili, a 24-year-old police officer known affectionately as Rani, was killed while fighting Hamas militants during the attack.

Before Mr Gvili’s remains were recovered, 20 living hostages and the remains of 27 others had been returned to Israel since the ceasefire, most recently in early December.

Israel in exchange has released the bodies of hundreds of Palestinians to Gaza.

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