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GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories, Jan 7, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Hamas officials told AFP that search operations for the remains of the last Israeli hostage held in Gaza resumed on Wednesday after a two-week pause due to bad weather.

Israel has previously said it is awaiting the return of Ran Gvili's body before beginning talks on the second phase of the fragile ceasefire agreement with Hamas which came into effect in October.

A Hamas official told AFP that the Palestinian Islamist movement's armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, "accompanied by Red Cross teams, are resuming today search operations for the body of the last Israeli captive in the Zeitun neighbourhood in southeastern Gaza City."

Another official said that search operations had been suspended over the past two weeks due to stormy weather and heavy rain, which had prevented excavators and other machinery from reaching Zeitun.

"The search operations resumed today, and we hope to recover the body to close the exchange file," the official added, urging pressure on Israel to complete the first stage of the ceasefire agreement and open the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt.

Of the 251 people seized during Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the Gaza war, only the body of Gvili remains in the Palestinian territory.

Gvili, a non-commissioned officer in the Israeli police's elite Yassam unit, was killed in action on the day of the attack and his body was taken to Gaza.

The Israeli group representing the families of hostages held in Gaza said in a statement that it welcomed "the pressure that led to the operational decision to resume search efforts" for Gvili's body.

"After a difficult month of uncertainty and feeling helpless, we are deeply relieved that search teams have returned to the field," Gvili's parents were quoted as saying in the statement from the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

"It's time for Hamas to understand there are no free passes. The Rafah crossing should not reopen until our Rani comes home," they added.

"We call on the mediators to use all their leverage to get this deal done and end our suffering. Rani, we're waiting for you. We won't rest until you're back."