Israel said to detain Islamic Jihad operative as part of search for final hostage’s body

By Noam Lehmann 28 December 2025, 5:54 pm

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Hamas gunmen patrol as Egyptian workers, accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage, Ran Gvili, in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. (Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

Covert Israeli forces on the Hamas-controlled side of the Gaza ceasefire line have detained an Islamic Jihad operative linked to the abduction of slain police Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, the last remaining Israeli hostage held by terrorists in the enclave, according to the Saudi-owned outlet Asharq al-Awsat.

The unnamed operative is part of the al-Quds Brigades, PIJ’s armed wing, and was active in Gaza City’s eastern Zeitoun neighborhood, which is bisected by the ceasefire line, Asharq al-Awsat reports, citing local sources and sources from Hamas and Islamic Jihad. He was reportedly detained about a kilometer (0.6 miles) west of the Gaza ceasefire line, in the Hamas-held part of Gaza.

The IDF does not immediately respond to a request for comment.

According to the outlet, the detained operative’s name appeared in a document Israel gave to mediators in Cairo last month that listed operatives thought to be responsible for capturing and holding Gvili’s body. The precise nature of the operative’s alleged involvement in Gvili’s abduction was unclear from the report.

Israeli officials cited by Hebrew media have accused Islamic Jihad of holding on to Gvili’s remains, and have charged Hamas with failing to pressure its fellow terror group to release the body.

Islamic Jihad claimed earlier this month that it had returned all the hostages in its possession, a statement rejected by Israel.

Islamic Jihad sources cited by Asharq al-Awsat claim the group held the body in several locations in Gaza City before handing it over early in the war to Hamas’s armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades.

Hamas sources cited by the outlet say that Hamas held Gvili’s remains for an extended period, but deny that the group currently possesses the body. They claim that Israeli operations in the area where the body was last held have made searches for it more difficult.