Israel says it received hostage’s body from Hamas as it indicates Rafah crossing could open

CAIRO/JERUSALEM - Israel received a body that Hamas said was one of the last two dead hostages in the Gaza Strip on Dec 3, as Israel said it would allow Gaza’s gateway to Egypt to open once all hostages were returned.

A body has been transferred by the Red Cross to the Israeli military and will undergo forensic identification, a statement from the Israeli prime minister’s office said.

It later said the body has been identified as that of Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak.

The body of Israeli Ran Gvili, the last of the living and dead hostages to be returned, is still in Gaza.

Hamas also handed over remains on Dec 2, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office later said were not of any hostage.

The handover of the last hostages’ bodies in Gaza would complete a key condition of the initial part of US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the two-year Gaza war, which also provides for the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt to open in both directions.

Israel has kept the crossing shut since the ceasefire came into effect in October, saying that Hamas must abide by the agreement to return all hostages still in Gaza, both living and dead.

“The crossing will be opened both ways when all of our hostages have been returned,” Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian told reporters.

Since the fragile truce started, Hamas has returned all 20 living hostages and 26 bodies in exchange for around 2,000 Palestinian detainees and convicted prisoners, but two more dead captives – Israeli police officer Gvili and Thai agricultural worker Sudthisak – were still in Gaza.

Israel says previous ‘findings’ not linked to hostages

The armed wing of the Hamas-allied Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, the Al Quds Brigades, said it had found a hostage body after conducting a search in northern Gaza, along with a team from the Red Cross.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad said they handed over the body to the Red Cross late on the afternoon of Dec 3. The groups did not say which of the two remaining dead hostages – Mr Gvili or Mr Sudthisak – they believed it to be.

The two were kidnapped during Hamas’ Oct 7, 2023, attack on Israel that triggered two years of devastating war in Gaza.

Opening of crossing could allow out those needing treatment

COGAT, the Israeli military arm that oversees humanitarian matters, said the Rafah crossing would be opened in the coming days to allow Palestinians to cross into Egypt.

The decision to open the crossing for those seeking to leave Gaza was made in “full coordination” with those that have mediated between Israel and Hamas during the war, Ms Bedrosian said.

Egypt, along with Qatar and the US, has acted as a mediator.

COGAT said the crossing would be opened under the supervision of a European Union mission – a similar mechanism to that employed during a previous Gaza ceasefire agreed in January 2025.

Before the war, the Rafah crossing was the only direct exit point for most Palestinians in Gaza to reach the outside world, and a key entry point for aid into the territory. It has been mostly closed throughout the conflict.

At least 16,500 patients in Gaza require medical care outside the enclave, according to the United Nations. Some Gazans have managed to leave for medical treatment abroad through Israel.

Bloodshed continues

Violence has tailed off since the Oct 10 ceasefire but Israel has continued to strike Gaza and conduct demolitions against what it says is Hamas infrastructure.

Hamas and Israel have traded blame for violating the US-backed agreement.

Medics at Khan Younis’ Al-Kuwaiti Hospital said they recovered the bodies of five Palestinians, including two children, after an Israeli missile attack on the evening of Dec 3 at an encampment in western Khan Younis.

The Israeli military said its strike in Khan Younis targeted a “Hamas terrorist”, without providing further details. It said the attack came in response to an attack on its troops in Rafah earlier in the day that wounded five soldiers.

Hamas said the Israeli attack was a “disregard to the ceasefire agreement”, adding that Israel had “full responsibility” for the consequences of the escalation.

Health officials at Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza said earlier in the day that two Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire in the Zeitoun suburb of Gaza City. The Israeli military said it was looking into the report.

More than 350 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into effect, Gaza health authorities said. Palestinian militants killed three Israeli soldiers during this time, Israeli authorities said. REUTERS