Mother of last Hamas hostage calls on Israel not to move to phase two of ceasefire

Israel and Hamas have been trading accusations of ceasefire breaches since the US-brokered ceasefire began in October

The mother of slain Israeli hostage Ran Gvili has called on Israel to refuse to move to the next stage of the ceasefire before her son, the final body remaining in Gaza, is returned.

Talik Gvili called on there to be “no move to implement the next stage” of the Gaza ceasefire as she announced she would join Benjamin Netanyahu during his trip to meet Donald Trump on 28 December.

“It is inconceivable that the other side violates agreements and we continue as if nothing happened,” Ms Gvili said according to The Times of Israel. “There is an agreement. The agreement received the backing of the president of the United States. If we do not insist on the full implementation of the agreement, we may lose Rani forever.”

Israel and Hamas have repeatedly accused each other of breaching the US-brokered ceasefire since it began in October, with reports of hundreds of deaths in the months that followed.

Ran Gvili’s body is the last being held by Hamas (via REUTERS)

Hamas insists it does not know where Ran Gvili’s remains are. The ceasefire deal, which began on 10 October, has seen the return of 20 living hostages and all remaining dead hostages barring Ran.

In the latest row over an alleged ceasefire breach, an Israeli soldier was wounded by an explosive device in Rafah. Netanyahu’s office vowed that Israel “will respond accordingly” although Hamas claims it was unexploded Israeli ordnance from bombs dropped by Israel which injured the officer.

Denying responsibility for the blast, official Mahmoud Merdawi said it was "caused by bombs left behind by the enemy that had not exploded previously, and we have informed the mediators of this” in a statement on X.

The 20-point plan issued by Trump in September calls for an initial truce followed by steps towards a wider peace. It ultimately calls for Hamas to disarm and have no governing role in Gaza and for Israel to pull out of the territory, which remains in ruins after two years of war.

Hundreds of people have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire began (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

But the sides have not fully agreed to everything in it, and Hamas has said it will only hand over its arms if a Palestinian state is established.

On Wednesday, Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan said he had met with Hamas political bureau officials in Ankara to discuss advancing the ceasefire agreement to its second phase, a source in the foreign ministry told Reuters news agency.

It comes as Netanyahu announced on Wednesday that Israel would spend 350 billion shekels (£81 billion) on developing an independent arms to reduce dependency on other countries.

Netanyahu will visit Trump in the US next week (Reuters)

"We will continue to acquire essential supplies while independently arming ourselves," Netanyahu said at a ceremony for new pilots.

He continued: "I don't know if a country can be completely independent but we will strive ... to ensure our arms are produced as much as possible in Israel. Our goal is to build an independent arms industry for the State of Israel and reduce the dependency on any party, including allies."

Netanyahu’s meeting with Trump next week will largely be to discuss the next phase of Trump’s Gaza plan.