Former IDF hostage negotiator: Hamas has real difficulty finding body of last Israeli hostage in Gaza

Hamas faces real obstacles in trying to find the body of Ran Gvili, the last Israeli hostage remaining in the Gaza Strip, the IDF’s former hostage negotiation chief Maj. Gen. (res.) Nitzan Alon told Ynet News.

Alon recently left his post after two years of leading the IDF’s team for hostage negotiations, as well as the military’s efforts to collect intelligence on captives and missing persons.

According to short quotes from a yet-to-be-released interview with Ynet, Alon assessed that Hamas is facing real difficulties finding the body of Gvili, implying he doesn’t think the terror group is playing for time.

“Hamas has an objective difficulty” in finding the body, Alon said, “It’s related to the chaos they faced immediately after October 7.”

“Nevertheless, we believe that it is possible to bring him back. There is a connection between the pressure applied to Hamas and the results, so we can’t give up,” he added.

Despite committing to return all hostage remains at the start of the ceasefire, Hamas still holds Gvili's body. In the past, Israeli officials have accused the terror group of intentionally dragging out the first phase of the ceasefire by slow-walking the hostage releases, and staging fake discoveries.

Despite this, media reports suggest that U.S. President Donald Trump plans to announce that the Gaza ceasefire is moving into its second phase before Christmas.

However, the Gvili family has said in a statement that “Stage one of the hostage deal is not complete as long as Ran is not home."

"We demand that Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump pressure Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad to return Ran immediately. There can be no move to the second stage until he is here.”

On Monday, Al Jazeera reported that the Red Cross and Hamas operatives conducted searches for Gvili’s body in the al-Zaytoun neighborhood in eastern Gaza City, but without success.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the second largest terror group in the Gaza Strip which had also taken numerous hostages on Oct. 7, 2023, announced on Monday that the group had handed over the last of its hostages, renouncing responsibility for Gvili’s remains.

Upon Alon’s retirement from two years of reserve duty, the IDF said that a colonel would continue to lead its Hostages Headquarters.

“Under his command, the headquarters worked to return the hostages, focusing on intelligence collection and research, assisting in negotiations, leading and executing special operations, and maintaining ongoing contact with the families of the hostages,” the IDF said.

Alon served as head of the IDF’s Central Command, the Operations Directorate and as point man on the Iranian threat, before his retirement in 2019.

On Oct. 8, 2023, Alon was appointed by former IDF chief of staff Herzi Halevi to lead the Hostages and Missing Persons Headquarters.

In a farewell letter to his soldiers, Alon wrote that “Amid the disaster and upheaval that struck the State of Israel on Oct. 7, the chaos following the mass abductions stood out, the nature and scope of which were unclear. It was necessary to create almost overnight an organization and command structure, define the mission clearly, and develop the capabilities to carry it out.”

“The ability to build a reliable picture from a puzzle of thousands of details – some missing or hidden – was made possible thanks to your talent and professional skills: intelligence officers, operational personnel, and technology experts, together with the supporting framework that tirelessly assisted you. You all devoted yourselves to this sacred mission with endless dedication, working days and nights, on weekdays, Shabbats, and holidays.”

Despite Alon’s retirement, the military stated at the time that IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir “regards the return of the hostages as a supreme mission and a moral duty, emphasizing that as long as there remain fallen hostages in the Gaza Strip, the mission is not over.”