Israel will open the Rafah crossing when it finds the remains of the last hostage

This was announced on Sunday evening by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office. The crossing between Gaza and Egypt was supposed to open in the first phase of US President Donald Trump's peace plan, which accompanies the truce concluded in October between Israel and Hamas.

However, Israel made the opening conditional on the return of all living hostages and Hamas's maximum effort to locate the bodies of deceased captives.

All bodies have already been returned, with the exception of police officer Rana Gvili. The Israeli army announced on Sunday that it had launched a targeted operation in northern Gaza to recover his remains, with several intelligence leads at its disposal.

Once this operation is complete, the Rafah crossing is to be opened. This is virtually the only route into and out of Gaza for more than two million residents.

(reuters, est)