Palestinian sources dismissed Israeli claims circulating over the past two days that the Islamic Jihad movement is refusing to cooperate with Hamas by handing over what Israel says is the last body of an Israeli hostage in Gaza, a step Israel has linked to moving into the second phase of the ceasefire.
Israel’s Maariv newspaper reported on Friday, citing Israeli security sources, that tensions had emerged between Hamas and Islamic Jihad over the latter’s alleged refusal to hand over the body of the last hostage, Ran Gvili.
Israel believes Islamic Jihad fighters were directly involved in abducting Gvili and holding him in Gaza.
The Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, said days ago it had handed over all hostages in its possession and had fully complied with the ceasefire agreement, a claim confirmed by sources in the movement speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat.
According to those sources, Gvili’s body was not among the Israeli hostages held by Islamic Jihad and was instead in Hamas’ custody. They said coordination with Hamas was excellent and denied any disagreements or tensions, dismissing Israeli media reports as unfounded.
Sources from Hamas told Asharq Al-Awsat the body was believed to be located in three or four sites in the Shujaiya and Zeitoun neighborhoods east of Gaza City. Search operations were carried out at those locations but failed to locate it.
They said all field commanders and activists involved in the abduction and in guarding the body had been killed in a series of airstrikes and other operations, making it difficult to determine the exact location with certainty.
They added that the difficulty was compounded by heavy bombardment, widespread destruction and land leveling in those areas during Israeli ground incursions.
According to Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, Israel provided Hamas, via mediators, with information about individuals who might help identify the body’s location, as well as details on potential sites, accompanied by aerial photographs.
Hamas sources said there was ongoing communication with mediators on this issue and others.
New video raises doubts
These developments coincided with the Israeli Hostages and Missing Families Forum publishing video footage of six hostages whose bodies were found inside a tunnel in Rafah in August 2024.
The footage shows them sharing daily life, marking the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, celebrating the start of 2024, talking among themselves, shaving and moving from one place to another inside the tunnel.
The videos raised questions about the Israeli army’s claim that they were killed two days before being found, allegedly shot by Hamas fighters. Hamas has denied that account, saying they were killed in an Israeli strike that hit the site.
Israeli journalist Miki Levin wrote in a report on Maariv’s website that the six could have returned home alive had an agreement been reached earlier, in April last year, as senior members of the negotiating team had said.
She criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir for insisting on the notion of “total victory,” which she described as empty and unattainable.
She said the six would have been freed under a deal rejected by the Israeli government, which ignored warnings that an incursion into Rafah would lead to the hostages’ deaths.
According to the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation, negotiations with mediators days before their deaths were on the verge of collapse due to the Israeli government’s insistence on controlling the Philadelphi corridor. Five of the hostages were due to be released had an agreement been signed at that time.
These circumstances, Hamas sources said, likely prompted Israel to claim they were killed by Hamas gunfire.
The sources again denied that version, saying the hostages were killed in artillery and air strikes that hit the area and also killed several of their captors. They noted that captors had instructions at the time to kill any hostage if Israeli forces approached and posed a direct threat.
The tunnel was located in the Tel al-Sultan neighborhood west of Rafah in southern Gaza. The Israeli army later acknowledged that investigations indicated the hostages were killed as a result of military pressure in the area.
In October 2024, Israel killed Yahya Sinwar, the former head of Hamas’ political bureau, in a house near the tunnel site in Tel al-Sultan, in what Israeli accounts described as a surprise encounter while he was with an armed group spotted moving inside the building.
Asharq Al-Awsat reported in November 2024, citing Hamas sources, that Ibrahim Sinwar, the son of Qassam Brigades commander Mohammed Sinwar, who was later killed in an Israeli strike, had been killed alongside his uncle in one of the Rafah tunnels.
The sources said Ibrahim Mohammed Sinwar was killed in an Israeli strike as he emerged from a tunnel opening to monitor Israeli troop movements, while accompanied by his uncle, in August that year in Rafah.
Assessments cited by Asharq Al-Awsat suggest the tunnel in question was the same one where the six hostages were held. Subsequent Israeli investigations said DNA evidence indicated Sinwar had been present there.
The hostages may in fact have been killed in the same strike that killed Ibrahim Sinwar, who had accompanied his uncle Yahya throughout the war, along with other armed fighters.
Hamas sources stressed that strict instructions had been in place regarding the treatment of Israeli hostages, including providing all necessary means to keep them alive and safeguard their lives.
