Eight hundred and fourteen days have passed since October 7, and Ran Gvili is still in Gaza. On Sunday, a report published in the Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat quoted Palestinian sources claiming that Israel abducted an operative from the military wing of Islamic Jihad as part of efforts to recover the body of the last remaining killed hostage.
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Hamas searches for body of killed hostage Ran Gvili
(Photos: Israel Police spokesperson, Reuters)
According to the report, Palestinian sources in the factions and field sources said that “Israel is carrying out covert activity inside the Gaza Strip as part of the search for Gvili.” They claimed that “the operation included the abduction of a field operative from the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Islamic Jihad, a resident of the Zeitoun neighborhood, in an area near Palestine Square in Gaza City.”
The sources, who did not name the allegedly abducted Islamic Jihad operative, said that “the abduction took place about one kilometer west of the Yellow Line several days ago. An Israeli special force carried out the operation, as the IDF believes the abducted operative has a direct connection to the holding of Gvili’s body.”
Sources in Islamic Jihad told the newspaper that “the body was indeed in the hands of their operatives, and after a short period it was transferred to operatives and field commanders in Hamas’ military wing in Gaza City, for several reasons, including coordination between the factions.” Hamas sources said the body had been in their possession for a long time and was held by them for several months before the ceasefire in the Zeitoun neighborhood.
They claimed that “everyone who oversaw the holding of the body and everyone who knew its location was eliminated in separate operations.”