Israel recovers final hostage body, paving way for next phase of Trump plan

Israel has identified and repatriated the body of the final Israeli hostage held in the Gaza Strip, the military announced Monday, a move that clears the way for the next phases of President Trump's peace plan.

The Israel Defense Forces identified the victim as Ran Gvili, a 24-year-old special operations police officer. Gvili was killed during the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, and his body was subsequently taken into Gaza by a smaller militant group.

Troops recovered the remains during a large-scale operation at a cemetery in northern Gaza following an intelligence breakthrough.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told parliament the mission had been "accomplished" and that no hostages remain in Gaza. The development is expected to conclude the first phase of a U.S.-backed ceasefire agreement.

In a related move, the Israeli government said it would partially reopen the Rafah border crossing with Egypt to allow Palestinians to travel following identity checks. However, the crossing will not be open for direct humanitarian aid from Egypt.

The next steps of the ceasefire deal involve the disarmament of Hamas and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. Negotiations on those contested points have not yet begun.

The recovery of the final hostage marks a pivotal symbolic win for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, providing the domestic political capital necessary to claim a core wartime objective has been met. While this milestone allows the administration to signal a transition to the next phase of the conflict, it serves only as the conclusion of the most straightforward chapter.

Formidable structural hurdles remain. Stakeholders hold fundamentally irreconcilable interpretations of the post-war framework. Netanyahu continues to insist that the total demilitarization of Hamas must take precedence over any reconstruction efforts. Meanwhile, as the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza intensifies, Hamas remains entrenched in its demand for a definitive political roadmap toward Palestinian statehood. This basic divergence suggests that forthcoming negotiations will be fraught with gridlock.

The "Trump Plan" has moved to the center of the diplomatic discourse, floating proposals for an international stabilization force and the establishment of a technocratic Palestinian commission. However, the viability of this framework remains a major unknown. Critical questions regarding troop contributors, financing mechanisms, and whether a technocratic body can achieve local legitimacy remain entirely unanswered.

The decision to partially reopen the Rafah crossing—restricting movement to controlled pedestrian transit while maintaining the block on aid—represents a minimal concession. This move does little to mitigate the deepening humanitarian crisis, further highlighting the disconnect between high-level political maneuvering and the stark realities on the ground.