Gazan terror groups handed over what they said was the body of one of the three remaining deceased hostages on Tuesday evening, with Israel saying the remains were brought to a forensic institute for identification.
The bodies of three captives have yet to be received by their families — those of Israelis Dror Or and Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, and Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak.
The development came after the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group said Monday that it had recovered the body in an area north of central Gaza’s Nuseirat, and after Israel said Tuesday afternoon that it took a “very grave view” of the more than 24-hour delay in returning it, which it regarded as another violation of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Shortly after Israel’s statement, Hamas announced that it and Islamic Jihad would hand over the body.
The remains were handed to the Red Cross in central Gaza and then to IDF troops inside the Strip, where a small ceremony, led by a military rabbi, was held.
The casket was then brought out of Gaza by troops, and police escorted it to the Abu Kabir forensic institute in Tel Aviv for identification, a process that officials have said may take up to two days.
The three slain hostages whose bodies were still held captive in Gaza as of November 24, 2025. (L-R): Dror Or, Ran Gvili, and Sudthisak Rinthalak. (Collage by Times of Israel; Photos: Courtesy)
The Gazan terror groups are obligated to return all the deceased hostages to Israel under the terms of the ceasefire deal. However, they claim they have had trouble locating the remaining bodies despite repeated searches, claims Israel has questioned.
IDF kills 5 gunmen in Rafah, as operatives still holed up
Meanwhile Tuesday, the military said it killed five gunmen in eastern Rafah, an IDF-held area in the southern Gaza Strip where dozens of Hamas operatives are believed to be trapped in tunnels.
Troops of the Nahal Brigade, during scans of the area, spotted the five armed operatives and killed them a short while later, the army said, publishing images of their firearms.
Weapons the military says were found on Palestinian gunmen who were killed by IDF troops in southern Gaza’s Rafah, November 25, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
The military said it believes the gunmen emerged from tunnels in the area, where several dozen Hamas operatives remain holed up.
A week ago, IDF troops spotted and shot dead four operatives who emerged from a tunnel in the area. In an incident over the weekend, 17 gunmen emerged from tunnels and were either killed or captured.
The IDF has vowed to kill or capture all the remaining operatives on the Israeli side of the Yellow Line that separates Gaza in accordance with the October ceasefire agreement.
Troops kill operative who crossed Yellow Line in north Gaza
Additionally, the IDF said troops shot dead a terror operative who crossed the Yellow Line in a separate incident on Tuesday.
The operative was identified approaching troops of the 188th Armored Brigade “in a way that posed an immediate threat,” the military said. The soldiers opened fire and “eliminated the terrorist to remove the threat,” the statement added.
On Saturday, Israel carried out deadly strikes across Gaza in response to an attack on troops in the Strip’s south. According to Israel, the strikes killed several Hamas commanders. On Monday, the IDF said it killed suspects who crossed the Yellow Line in several separate incidents.
Displaced Palestinians stand on a road after heavy rain in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on November 25, 2025. (Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
The first phase of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point ceasefire plan formed the basis of Israel and Hamas’s October 9 truce-hostage deal.
In the next stage of the plan, Israel is meant to withdraw further from the Yellow Line, alongside the establishment of a transitional authority to govern Gaza, the deployment of a multinational security force meant to take over from the Israeli military, the disarmament of Hamas, and the start of reconstruction.
Hamas has so far refused to agree on the matter of demilitarization. Israel insists the Strip must be demilitarized before Trump’s plan can advance.
Gaza will take decades to recover from war, says UN agency
The United Nations on Tuesday reported an “unprecedented collapse across the Palestinian economy” amid the war, and called for “immediate and substantial” international intervention.
Rebuilding Gaza will cost more than $70 billion and could take several decades, the UN Trade and Development agency (UNCTAD) said in a report.
People ride in a vehicle driven through floodwaters at a makeshift camp housing displaced Palestinians following heavy rain in Gaza City on November 25, 2025. (Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
“The military operations have significantly undermined every pillar of survival,” from food to shelter to healthcare, “and plunged the Strip into a human-made abyss,” it said.
Even “in an optimistic scenario of double-digit growth rates facilitated by a significant level of foreign aid, it will take several decades for Gaza to return to pre-October 2023 welfare levels,” it added.
UNCTAD called for a “comprehensive recovery plan” combining “coordinated international assistance, restoration of fiscal transfers, and measures to ease constraints on trade, movement and investment.”
Lazar Berman, Times of Israel staff and agencies contributed to this report.
