Israel launches 'large-scale operation' to locate last hostage in Gaza

Israel said Sunday its military was conducting a largescale 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 Israels Cabinet met to discuss the possibility of opening Gazas key Rafah border crossing with Egypt and a day after top US envoys met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about next stepsThe return of the remaining hostage Ran Gvili has been widely seen as removing the remaining obstacle to moving ahead with opening the Rafah crossing which would signal the USbrokered ceasefires second phase Late Sunday Netanyahus office in a statement said that once this search operation is exhausted and in accordance with the agreement with the United States Israel will open the Rafah crossingThe 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 Israels military said it was searching a cemetery in northern Gaza near the Yellow Line which marks off Israelicontrolled parts of the territorySeparately an Israeli military official said Gvili may have been buried in the Shujaiyya Daraj Tuffah area 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 Gvilis family has urged Netanyahus government not to enter the ceasefires second phase until his remains are returnedBut 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 Gvilis remains and accused Israel of obstructing efforts to search for them in areas of Gaza under Israeli military controlA UN agency office is set ablazeThe shuttered headquarters of the UN 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 agencys West Bank director He said multiple holes were cut in the fenceIsraels 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 CommissionerGeneral Philippe Lazzarini of the agency also known as UNRWA told The Associated Press the incident was the latest attack on the UN in the ongoing attempt to dismantle the status of Palestine refugeesUNRWAs mandate is to provide aid and services to some 25 million Palestinian refugees in Gaza the Israelioccupied 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 Israels Knesset passed legislation severing ties and banning it from functioning in what it defines as Israel including east JerusalemIsrael 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 Israels twoyear 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 HamasThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever