Palestinian Islamic Jihad is a terror group that attacked alongside Hamas on October 7 and has held a number of hostages since then. The Times of Israel reports that the group has announced that all the hostages it was holding have been returned. However, Israeli officials have staunchly rejected the claim, saying that the terror group does in fact know the location of Ran Gvili’s body, the final hostage.
“We view Islamic Jihad’s statement severely and don’t accept it in any respect,” the network quoted Hisch telling the countries mediating the ceasefire in Gaza. “Someone in Islamic Jihad knows where Ran is held.”
The return of the remains of Gvili, a police master sergeant who was killed on October 7 and whose body was taken to the Strip, is key to the ceasefire advancing to its planned second phase, which is meant to see Gaza move to longer-term security and governance frameworks.
Under the terms of the ceasefire that took effect two months ago, Hamas is meant to return all hostages. Israel says the terror group can do more to locate Gvili’s remains and, according to the Ynet news site, Hirsch has shared aerial photographs meant to help in the search as well as names of officials who may know where the body is.
Alongside discussion of the second phase of the ceasefire and the question of whether Hamas will truly disarm, missions to locate Gvili’s body continue. Two days ago, searches took place in the Gaza neighborhood of Zeitoun in the northern area of the Strip. The Red Cross and Hamas could not locate any body.
With talks of phase two of the ceasefire beginning, the Gvili family has said that they cannot move forward until Ran is returned, adding that the country will not be able to heal without him. At the same time, the transition to a Gaza without violence yields plenty of uncertainty. During this time, The Fellowship and our generous supporters continue our steadfast prayers of peace for the Holy Land and her people on this winding path towards recovery.
