The IDF said Sunday night that troops have launched an ongoing operation in northern Gaza to locate the remains of Ran Gvili hy”d, the last remaining Israeli hostage in Gaza.

According to the military, a series of clandestine operations carried out over the weekend significantly narrowed the possible burial location, prompting commanders to authorize a broader field operation. The IDF said the current effort could take several days.

Army Radio reported that new intelligence indicates Gvili may be buried in a Muslim cemetery in the Shejaiya–Daraj Tuffah area of northern Gaza, on the Israeli side of the so-called yellow line.

The IDF said the intelligence regarding Gvili’s possible burial site did not come directly from Hamas. Instead, some of the information was obtained during interrogations of recently captured terrorists from Gaza, according to Army Radio.

The military said that Hamas and Qatari mediators were later consulted regarding the intelligence and now believe the information may be credible.

As part of the operation, IDF forces are currently turning over approximately 170 graves in a specific section of the cemetery. Military officials said that if Gvili’s remains are not located in those graves, the search could be expanded to cover the entire cemetery.

At the same time, IDF sources cautioned that some earlier information provided by Hamas may have been intended as misdirection.

Other military sources suggested that Palestinian Islamic Jihad may have buried Gvili in the Muslim cemetery, possibly under the mistaken belief that he was one of their own fighters or at least a Palestinian.

Officials said Gvili was likely buried within the first few weeks of the war in Gaza, though those responsible for the burial may not have been aware of his identity at the time.

If the current effort does not yield results, the IDF said it will pursue other possible locations based on remaining intelligence leads.

Alongside regular and reserve IDF troops, the operation includes an engineering unit, as well as rabbinic advisors and a military dentist to assist in the rapid identification of any remains recovered.

Military officials said the first step in confirming Gvili’s identity would be fingerprint matching. If fingerprints are not usable, dental records or DNA testing would be conducted.

IDF sources said the military had possessed partial intelligence about the cemetery location for some time, but that additional evidence gathered during the recent clandestine operations strengthened the assessment that this site could be the correct burial location.

The IDF said it will continue operations at the site until all viable intelligence leads are exhausted.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)