Search efforts for body of last Israeli hostage in Gaza delayed due to bad weather : NPR

Palestinians cross a flooded street following heavy rains in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on December 11.

Abdel Karim Hana/AP

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Abdel Karim Hana/AP

TEL AVIV, Israel — Efforts to recover the body of the last Israeli hostage in Gaza have been hampered by heavy rain and bad weather in the enclave, according to an Israeli official who spoke to NPR on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

“Search operations and continued searches have been coordinated, but are currently delayed due to weather conditions in the northern Gaza Strip,” the official said.

The official told NPR that search efforts should “resume as soon as ground conditions permit.”

The start of phase two of the US-brokered ceasefire agreement is on hold, until the last body is transferred to Israeli authorities by Hamas.

The second phase would involve Hamas laying down its arms and an Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza.

The body of Ran Gvili, killed while trying to help people escape from the Nova music festival, is the last Israeli hostage held by Hamas. Gvili was 24 years old and a member of an elite police unit.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which has campaigned for the return of the hostages since the start of the war, told NPR that there were “currently no search operations underway” because weather conditions did not permit it.

The Israeli military did not confirm delays in efforts to search for Gvili’s body, but called on Hamas to “fulfill its side of the deal.”

Hamas spokesman in Gaza, Hazem Qassim, told NPR that the search efforts were “very complicated.”

Both sides blame each other for violating the terms of the first phase of the ceasefire.

Israel has continued to strike Gaza since the ceasefire agreement was reached in October, killing more than 380 Palestinians, according to local health authorities.

Earlier this month, the Israeli military assassinated a senior Hamas leader it considered second in command of the group’s military wing. Hamas called this a violation of the ceasefire.

Heavy rains flooded thousands of tents used as shelter by already displaced Palestinians.

The United Nations agency responsible for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, has called on the Israeli military to allow more aid into Gaza.

“With the heavy rains and cold brought by Storm Byron, residents of the Gaza Strip are dying of cold,” UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini said on X.

Lazzarini said the waterlogged ruins of buildings were collapsing.

Gaza civil defense spokesman Mahmoud Basal said dozens of Palestinians were killed in the collapsing buildings.

“These buildings are a major nightmare in Gaza and threaten the lives of thousands of people,” Basal told NPR.

Itay Stern contributed to this report from Tel Aviv. Abu Bakr Bashir contributed from the United Kingdom. Ahmed Abuhamda contributed from Cairo.