Search resumes for body of last Israeli hostage in Gaza

Members of Hamas and employees of the International Committee of the Red Cross are once again searching for the remains of the last Israeli hostage unaccounted for in the Gaza Strip.

Sources within the Islamist Hamas movement confirmed the development on Wednesday. However, they say the search in a suburb of Gaza City is proving difficult because the area was severely damaged in the war between Israel and Hamas. There is also a lack of the necessary technical equipment, sources said.

The search for the body of Ran Gvili, a 24-year-old border police officer who was killed in the Hamas attack on October 7 2023, had been suspended for almost a month.

The Israeli government emphasized that it would not move on to the next phase agreed in the US peace plan for Gaza until the policeman’s body was returned to Israel.

In a statement released by the Hostage and Missing Families Forum, the man’s parents said that they were relieved that the search had resumed.

“Every minute feels like forever, and knowing they’re searching every corner of Gaza to find our Rani gives us hope again,” the statement said.