Israel says it has found the body of the last Israeli captive left in Gaza, amid local reports of heavy shelling and bulldozing during the search.
According to the Wafa news agency, the operations to find Ran Gvili, a 24-year-old policeman, were launched on Sunday morning.
The Israeli army carried out extensive bulldozing operations in the area of al-Sanafour and around the al-Batsh cemetery, located east of Gaza City.
Several graves were desecrated during the search for Gvili, who was found east of Gaza City.
Dozens of injuries and killings in the area have been reported since Sunday as a result of heavy artillery shelling and intense gunfire from military vehicles and quadcopter drones.
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Tents were also set ablaze due to shelling in the Tuffah neighbourhood of northeast Gaza City.
In a statement, the Israeli army said that Gvili, a commando fighter with Israel’s counter-terrorism unit Yamam, “fell in battle on the morning of 7 October 2023, and his body was abducted to the Gaza Strip.
“With this, all of the hostages from the Gaza Strip area have been returned,” the statement said.
The Palestinian movement Hamas responded to the Israeli announcement on Monday, saying it “exerted significant efforts in the search for the body of the last prisoner” and that it had provided Israel with “all the details and information in our posession regarding the location of the prisoner’s remains”.
Gvili’s retrieval should clear the way for Israel and Hamas to move to the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s peace plan.
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Hamas said that Israel must comply with the full implementation of the ceasefire framework, which came into effect in October, particularly the entry of aid and its complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
The latest grave desecrations, attacks, bulldozing operations and demolitions are one of over 1,300 reported violations commited by Israel since the start of the ceasefire.
The truce was intended to end more than two years of genocide in Gaza, during which Israeli forces killed more than 71,660 Palestinians and destroyed nearly 90 percent of the territory’s infrastructure.
However, since the ceasefire, Israeli forces have killed at least 486 people and wounded more than 1,341 others.
Israeli authorities have also continued to restrict the entry of humanitarian relief and allowed only a minimal amount of aid to enter. Tents, mobile homes and heating supplies remain banned.
