Hamas resumed searches on Wednesday for the remains of slain Police Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, the last hostage held in the Gaza Strip.
The renewed searches took place as armed clashes continued in the territory. A Palestinian militia group said Wednesday that it had killed two Hamas operatives in southern Gaza, marking another challenge to the terror group.
The searches for Gvili’s body are the first to occur in almost a month, and come nearly three months after Hamas committed to releasing all the remaining 48 hostages, living and dead, within the first 72 hours of the ceasefire that took effect on October 10, 2025. So far, 47 have been returned.
Mediators have stated that the ceasefire agreement also mandated the reopening of the Rafah Crossing between Israel and Egypt. But Israeli officials told Hebrew media that they won’t reopen the crossing in both directions until Hamas returns Gvili’s body, and that the US endorses that stance.
Israel has previously floated opening the crossing only for those exiting Gaza into Egypt, prompting cries of protest from Cairo.
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Against that backdrop, the al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing, undertook the searches for Gvili alongside the Red Cross in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood, in the enclave’s north. The searches have taken place close to the so-called Yellow Line that divides the Strip between zones of Hamas and Israeli control.
Hebrew media outlets reported that the searches were being conducted with Israel’s knowledge and coordination. They were undertaken in full view of IDF soldiers, according to the Ynet news site.
Footage from the scene showed armed Hamas operatives, Red Cross vehicles and bulldozers.
????_ كتائب القسام، برفقة فرق الصليب الأحمر، تستأنف عمليات البحث عن جثة آخر أسير إسرائيلي في حي الزيتون بقطاع غزة، وذلك ضمن إطار اتفاق وقف إطلاق النار وتبادل الأسرى. pic.twitter.com/X5yOC6SxPJ
— عربي بوست (@arabic_post) January 7, 2026
Channel 12 reported that the searches included the involvement of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group, which captured Gvili during the October 7, 2023, onslaught that launched the Gaza war. Arabic reports mentioned only Hamas and the Red Cross taking part in the search.
PIJ sources have been cited in Arabic media saying the body had been handed over to Hamas during the war and held in eastern Gaza City.
Ran Gvili’s parents, Itzik and Talik Gvili, welcomed the news of the renewed searches.
“After a difficult month of uncertainty and a feeling of stagnation, we feel a great relief that search teams have returned to the field,” they said in a statement. The bereaved family noted their support for the government’s “determined decision on the matter of the Rafah Crossing. The time has come for Hamas to understand there won’t be any ‘free gifts.’”
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum also expressed its support for the government’s reported decision on Rafah, saying in a statement that “the agreement has two sides, and both are obligated to fulfill their commitments.”
The family of the last remaining deceased hostage in Gaza, Ran Gvili, meets in Florida with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and top White House Middle East advisers Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, December 29, 2025, in a photo sent out by the Tikva Forum. (Courtesy)
As the searches unfolded in Gaza’s north, an armed group known as the Popular Forces said in a statement it had carried out a raid on Hamas in southern Gaza’s Rafah. The group said it killed two of the terror group’s members who refused to surrender, and detained a third. It shared a photo that, it says, depicted one of the slain men.
The Popular Forces, founded by an anti-Hamas armed leader, Yasser Abu Shabab, is believed to be the largest group operating in Israel-controlled areas east of the Yellow Line. Abu Shabab was killed in December in what the group described as an internal feud. He was replaced by his deputy Ghassan Duhine, who vowed no let-up in the fight against Hamas.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged Israeli backing for anti-Hamas groups in June, saying Israel had “activated” clans. Israel has given few additional details since then.
The Popular Forces deny receiving support from Israel.
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