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Covert Israeli forces on the Hamas-controlled side of the Gaza ceasefire line have reportedly detained a Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative linked to the abduction of slain police Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, the last Israeli hostage still being held in the Strip.
According to the Saudi-owned outlet Asharq al-Awsat, the unnamed operative is part of the al-Quds Brigades, PIJ’s armed wing, and was active in Gaza City’s eastern Zeitoun neighborhood, which is bisected by the ceasefire line.
Citing local sources and sources from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the Sunday report said that the operative was detained a few days ago about a kilometer (0.6 miles) west of the “Yellow Line,” in the Hamas-held part of Gaza.
The Israel Defense Forces did not respond to a request for comment.
According to Asharq, the detained PIJ member’s name appeared in a document Israel gave to mediators in Cairo last month that listed operatives thought to be responsible for capturing and holding Gvili’s body. The precise nature of the operative’s alleged involvement in the abduction was unclear from the report.
Israeli officials cited by Hebrew media outlets have accused Islamic Jihad of holding on to Gvili’s remains, and have charged Hamas with failing to pressure its fellow terror group to release the body. Islamic Jihad claimed earlier this month that it had returned all the hostages in its possession, a statement rejected by Israel.
Islamic Jihad sources cited by Asharq al-Awsat claimed the group did originally hold the body in several locations in Gaza City, but then handed it over early in the war to Hamas’s armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades.
Hamas sources cited by the outlet said Hamas held Gvili’s remains for an extended period, but denied that the group currently possesses the body. They claimed that Israeli operations in the area where the body was last held have made searches for it more difficult.
Under a ceasefire deal signed in October, Hamas released the 20 remaining living hostages in its possession, and was obligated to also return the remains of the 28 deceased captives it held at the time within 72 hours.
The release of the hostages’ bodies was delayed, with Hamas claiming that it needed more time and special equipment to recover many of the bodies — although it was also caught staging the recovery of partial remains belonging to a body that the IDF had already recovered in 2023.
To date, Hamas has handed over 27 of the 28 captives’ bodies, with the last few remains returned to Israel being those held by Islamic Jihad.
The most recent deceased hostage returned was Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak, whose body was handed over by PIJ on December 3. A week before that, the body of Dror Or, who had also been held by Islamic Jihad, was returned to Israel.
Gvili’s family have vowed not to give up their battle for his return, with hundreds joining them on Friday afternoon in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square to demand Israel not advance to the second stage of the US peace plan without his return.
“We need to be united to make clear to the world, in no uncertain terms — we don’t forget. And we won’t let anyone leave him there,” his mother, Talik Gvili, said. “No moving on to the second phase, and not anything, until he’s home.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — who has vowed to return Gvili — is slated to meet this week in Florida with US President Donald Trump, who is expected to push for an advance to phase 2 of the peace deal.
During a Hanukkah party at the White House this month, Trump repeatedly asserted that he had gotten all the remaining hostages out of Gaza, despite being publicly corrected by the family of a former slain captive.
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