Report: Body of Israeli hostage found in Gaza

Remains of one of the last three hostages, previously held by Islamic Jihad, located in central Gaza by Hamas, Egyptian team, and the Red Cross.

By World Israel News Staff

The remains of one of the last hostages held in the Gaza Strip has been located in central Gaza, according to a report published Monday afternoon by the Qatari media outlet Al Jazeera.

Citing unnamed sources in the Gaza Strip, the report claimed that the a joint team of Hamas operatives, an Egyptian search team, and officials from the International Committee of the Red Cross were operating in the central Gaza city of Nuseirat Monday morning.

Later on Monday, Al Jazeera reported that a Hamas official has confirmed that the body of an Israeli hostage was recovered north of Nuseirat.

The report provided no details regarding the identity of the hostage.

A report by Israel Hayom claimed that the hostage had once been in the custody of Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

There are currently three slain hostages whose remains are still in the Gaza Strip.

Two of them – Ran Gvili and Dror Or – are Israeli nationals, while the third, Sudthisak Rinthalak, is a citizen of Thailand.

Hamas’ leadership has yet to issue a statement on the report.

The terror group has faced heavy international pressure to return the remaining three slain hostages to Israel, a key condition of the Gaza ceasefire declared on October 10th.

The US has pushed for Israel and Hamas to agree on the implementation of the second stage of the 20-point plan drafted by the White House, including the disarming of Hamas, demilitarization of Gaza, and the gradual withdrawal of the IDF from the coastal enclave.

However, Hamas’ ongoing failure to return the remaining hostages and repeated violations of the truce in Gaza have raised doubts regarding the viability of the second phase of the peace plan.

With no countries yet willing to commit troops to an international stabilization force tasked with peacekeeping in Gaza and ensuring Hamas disarms, the Israeli security establishment is increasingly skeptical the second phase of the plan will ever be implemented, local media outlets reported over the weekend.