The family of the last deceased hostage held in Gaza raised concerns on Saturday following the news that U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Board of Peace member Jared Kushner were to arrive in Israel later in the day and reportedly pressure Jerusalem into opening the Strip’s Rafah Crossing to Egypt, despite Hamas’s failure to retrieve the body of Border Police Master Sgt. Ran Gvili.
U.S. President Donald Trump “himself said this week in Davos that Hamas knows where our son is. We wonder why the pressure is being directed at the wrong place?” Gvili’s family was cited as saying by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, an organization formed after the Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
The forum has said in a statement that the goal of Witkoff’s and Kushner’s visit is to ensure the opening of the Sinai-Gaza border.
“The pressure should not be on the Israeli government to continue fulfilling its part of the deal while Hamas deceives the entire world and refuses to return the last hostage in accordance with the agreement it signed,” Gvili’s family continued.
“We call on the prime minister of Israel to address the esteemed American envoys and say that anyone who wants to advance the reconstruction of Gaza and peace in the Middle East would do well to focus their efforts first and foremost on bringing Rani home.”
The terms of the ceasefire stipulate that its second phase, which includes the disarmament of Gaza’s terrorist groups along with the territory’s reconstruction, will commence only after all hostages, alive and dead, return to Israel. The truce took force on Oct. 10, after which all the remaining abductees returned home, except for the remains of Border Police volunteer Gvili.
However, Witkoff declared last week the start of Phase 2 of Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza, followed by the unveiling of the Board of Peace in Davos, Switzerland. The global body, chaired by Trump, was initially formed to oversee the terms of the truce as they are being implemented in the Gaza Strip, as well as reconstruction efforts.
The Hostages Forum on Friday said it will hold rallies across Israel on Saturday evening to urge decisionmakers to progress toward peace efforts only after the body of Gvili returns home.
Meanwhile on Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces said that the Air Force struck and eliminated Palestinian terrorists in the northern Gaza Strip earlier in the day.
“IDF troops operating in the northern Gaza Strip identified several terrorists who crossed the Yellow Line, planted an explosive device in the area and approached troops, posing an immediate threat to them,” the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said.
The IAF struck back following the identification. “IDF troops in the Southern Command remain deployed in accordance with the ceasefire agreement and will continue to operate to remove any immediate threat,” the army added.
Israeli forces hold about 54% of the Gaza Strip, deployed east of the so-called Yellow Line, which runs through the Palestinian territory. Phase 2 of the ceasefire agreement involves the gradual withdrawal of Israeli troops on the condition that Gaza’s terrorist organizations lay down their arms.
