Israeli Troops Search for Hostage Body 01/26 06:17

   

   JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israeli teams were combing through a Gaza cemetery Monday 
for the remains of the final hostage in Gaza, the military said, after Hamas 
claimed it had done all required of it under the ceasefire agreement to search 
the side of the territory not controlled by troops.

   The search marked a dramatic last-ditch effort by Israel to find the body of 
Ran Gvili as Washington and other mediators apply pressure to move forward with 
the U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement.

   The clearest sign of progress would be Israel opening the Rafah crossing 
between Gaza and Egypt for Palestinians to enter and exit the territory. Prime 
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office says Israel will open the crossing once 
the search for Gvili is finished.

   Israeli fire, meanwhile, killed two Palestinians in Gaza, health authorities 
said, and Israel's Supreme Court considered a petition to allow the foreign 
press independent access to Gaza.

   Israel says the search for Gvili's remains could last days

   A military official said that the search for Gvili's remains began over the 
weekend in the areas of Shuja'iyya, Daraj and Tuffah, based on intelligence. 
The official said troops were joined by rabbis and dental experts to help 
identify Gvili. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were 
discussing an operation still underway.

   According to two Gaza City residents, the search took place in a cemetery in 
the Tuffah neighborhood, which includes hundreds of bodies. The residents, who 
asked to be unidentified for fear of reprisal, said Israeli forces were digging 
graves in the Batsh Cemetery, pulling bodies out before leaving them in the 
open.

   Israeli military officials were quoted in local media as saying the 
operation could take days to complete.

   Hamas had searched for Gvili's body on the side of the ceasefire line 
currently occupied by most of Gaza's Palestinians.

   Israeli troops control the eastern portion of Gaza, under the agreement. The 
militant group said Sunday it had given mediators all the information it had 
about Gvili's location and claimed Israel was searching one of the sites it had 
specified, across the ceasefire line where the militant group is not permitted.

   The return of all remaining hostages, alive or dead, has been a central part 
of the first phase of the ceasefire that took effect on Oct. 10. Before Monday, 
the previous hostage was recovered in early December.

   Also key to the agreement is opening the Rafah crossing, which Palestinians 
see as their lifeline to the world. The crossing remained closed Monday. It has 
been largely shut for entry to and exit from Gaza since May 2024, but for a 
small period in early 2025.

   Gvili's family has urged Netanyahu's government not to enter the ceasefire's 
second phase until his remains are returned. But pressure has been building, 
and the Trump administration has already declared in recent days that the 
second phase is underway.

   Palestinians killed in Gaza

   Israeli forces on Monday fatally shot a man in Gaza City's Tuffah 
neighborhood, according to Shifa Hospital, which received the body. The man was 
close to an area where the military has launched the search operation for 
Gvili, the hospital said.

   Another man was killed in the eastern side of Bureij refugee camp in central 
Gaza, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital, which received his body. The 
circumstances of his death were not immediately clear.

   More than 480 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire since Oct. 10, 
according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The ministry, which is part of the 
Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as 
generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts.

   Israel's top court considers petition to open Gaza for international 
journalists

   The Foreign Press Association on Monday asked Israel's Supreme Court to 
allow journalists to enter Gaza freely and independently.

   The FPA, which represents dozens of global news organizations, has been 
fighting for more than two years for independent media access to Gaza. Israel 
has barred reporters from entering Gaza independently since the Oct. 7, 2023, 
attacks by Hamas, which triggered the war, saying entry could put both 
journalists and soldiers at risk.

   The army has offered journalists brief, occasional visits under strict 
military supervision.

   FPA lawyers told the three judge panel that the restrictions are not 
justified and that with aid workers moving in and out of Gaza, journalists 
should be allowed in as well. They also said the tightly controlled embeds with 
the military are no substitute for independent access. The judges are expected 
to rule in the coming days.