Israel launches 'large-scale operation' to locate last hostage in Gaza
[January 26, 2026]
By NATALIE MELZER
NAHARIYA, Israel (AP) — Israel said Sunday its military was conducting a
“large-scale operation” to locate the last hostage in Gaza, as
Washington and other mediators pressure Israel and Hamas to move into
the next phase of their ceasefire.
The statement came as Israel’s Cabinet met to discuss the possibility of
opening Gaza’s key Rafah border crossing with Egypt, and a day after top
U.S. envoys met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about next steps.
The return of the remaining hostage, Ran Gvili, has been widely seen as
removing the remaining obstacle to moving ahead with opening the Rafah
crossing and proceeding with the U.S.-brokered ceasefire's second phase.
Late Sunday, Netanyahu's office in a statement said: "Upon completion of
this operations, and in accordance with what has been agreed upon with
the United States, Israel will open the Rafah crossing.” It gave no
details on how long that would be, but Israeli military officials were
quoted in local media as saying the operation could take days to
complete.
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 Sunday, the previous hostage was recovered in early December.
While Israel has carried out search efforts before for Gvili, more
detail than usual was released about this one. Israel’s military said it
was searching a cemetery in northern Gaza near the Yellow Line, which
marks off Israeli-controlled parts of the territory.
Separately, an Israeli military official said Gvili may have been buried
in the Shijaiya-Tuffah area of Gaza City, and that rabbis and dental
experts were on the ground with specialized search teams. The official
spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing an
operation still under way.
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 under way.
Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of dragging its feet in the recovery
of the final hostage. Hamas in a statement Sunday said it had provided
all the information it had about Gvili’s remains, and accused Israel of
obstructing efforts to search for them in areas of Gaza under Israeli
military control.
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People hold signs with a photo of Ran Gvili, who was killed while
fighting Hamas militants during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack and whose
body has been held in Gaza ever since, during a rally calling for
his return in Tel Aviv, Israel, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo
Correa)
A U.N. agency office is set ablaze
The shuttered headquarters of the U.N. agency for Palestinian
refugees in east Jerusalem was set ablaze overnight, days after
Israeli bulldozers demolished parts of the compound.
It was not known who started the fire. Israeli settlers were
observed at night looting the main building for furniture, said
Roland Friedrich, the agency’s West Bank director. He said multiple
holes were cut in the fence.
Israel’s fire department said it sent teams to prevent the blaze
from spreading. In May 2024, UNRWA said it was closing its compound
after settlers set fires to its fence.
Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini of the agency, also known as
UNRWA, told The Associated Press the incident was the “latest attack
on the U.N. in the ongoing attempt to dismantle the status of
Palestine refugees.”
UNRWA’s mandate is to provide aid and services to some 2.5 million
Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the Israeli-occupied West Bank and
east Jerusalem, as well as 3 million more refugees in Syria, Jordan
and Lebanon. But its operations were curtailed last year when
Israel’s Knesset passed legislation severing ties and banning it
from functioning in what it defines as Israel, including east
Jerusalem.
Israel has long railed against the agency, accusing it of being
infiltrated by Hamas and alleging that some of its employees were
involved in the 2023 attack that triggered Israel’s two-year war in
Gaza. UNRWA leaders have said they took swift action against the
employees accused of taking part in the attack, and have denied
allegations that the agency tolerates or collaborates with Hamas.
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