Israel will reopen Gaza's Rafah crossing with Egypt for the passage of people only after an operation to locate the body of the last remaining Israeli hostage in the enclave is completed, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said late on Sunday.
The border was supposed to have opened during the initial phase of U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to end the war, under a ceasefire reached in October between Israel and Hamas.
However, Israel conditioned the reopening on the return of all living hostages held by Palestinian militant factions in Gaza, as well as a "100% effort" by Hamas to locate and return the bodies of all deceased hostages.
All have been returned except for the body of police officer Ran Gvili. The Israeli military said on Sunday it had launched a "targeted operation" in northern Gaza to retrieve his remains, while an Israeli military official said there were "several intelligence leads" regarding his possible location.
The Israeli military "is currently conducting a focused operation to exhaust all of the intelligence that has been gathered in the effort to locate and return the fallen hostage, Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, of blessed memory," Netanyahu's office said in a statement.
It added that when the operation is complete, "Israel will open the Rafah Crossing."
Make Gaza dust again.
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