700 Graves Opened: New details on the operation to recover Ran Gvili

Approximately three months ago, IDF soldiers approached the commander of the Southern Command with a request to extend the Yellow Line to include a Muslim cemetery where Gvili was later found to have been buried. The request was based on concerns that the area posed a significant danger to IDF forces, and the commander approved the extension.

At the time, troops operated within the cemetery without any knowledge that there was a possibility Gvili was buried there. During those operations, a terror tunnel located beneath the cemetery was discovered and destroyed.

In recent weeks, improved intelligence assessments indicated that Ran Gvili was indeed buried at the site. Following a series of coordination steps, an operation to retrieve his body was authorized.

Last night, the ISA disclosed that about a month ago, during an abduction operation in the southern part of Gaza City, a Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative was arrested. The suspect had been involved in military activity against IDF forces during the war and was taken in for interrogation.

During questioning, the operative admitted to participating in the transfer of Ran Gvili’s body between multiple locations and identified additional individuals who had knowledge of the burial site. The intelligence gathered during the interrogation reinforced assessments that Gvili was buried in the al-Batsh cemetery in the northern Gaza Strip.

The ISA reported that this information led to the operation in which Ran was ultimately recovered. As part of the operation, more than 700 graves were opened and more than 250 bodies examined, until Ran was found in a Shifaa hospital body bag with his police-issue uniform, shoes, and belt still intact.