Gaza Herald – The Israeli army announced Monday evening that it had located the body of Israeli captive Ran Gafili in northern Gaza after intensive search operations, including the exhumation of dozens of graves, carried out by military units and forensic teams.
The military said the body was found during “precise field sweeps” east of Gaza City, where hundreds of sites were examined and forensic identification procedures, including dental and DNA tests, were conducted to confirm the identity of the deceased.
Israeli Army spokesperson Avichay Adraee stated that following the completion of identification by the National Forensic Center, and in coordination with Israeli police and the military rabbinate, the army informed Gafili’s family. According to military intelligence, Gafili, 24, served in the special patrol unit of Israeli police (Yasam) and was killed on October 7, with his body held in Gaza since then.
Earlier Monday, the army had exhumed over 200 graves in eastern Gaza as part of the ongoing operation, providing psychological and medical support for the teams conducting the search and securing the surrounding area beyond the so-called “yellow line.”
The announcement came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff to discuss the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement and the future of the Rafah crossing, which Netanyahu has conditioned on the resolution of the missing captives file, including Gafili.
