FILE- Palestinians watch machinery and some workers searching for the bodies of captives at Hamad City, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip. AP
Israel has previously said it is awaiting the return of the body before beginning talks on the second phase of the fragile ceasefire agreement with Hamas, which came into effect in October.
A Hamas official told AFP that the Palestinian movement's armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, "accompanied by Red Cross teams, are resuming today search operations for the body of the last Israeli in the Zeitun neighbourhood in southeastern Gaza City."
Another official said that search operations had been suspended over the past two weeks due to stormy weather and heavy rain, which had prevented excavators and other machinery from reaching Zeitun.
"The search operations resumed today, and we hope to recover the body to close the exchange file," the official added, urging pressure on Israel to complete the first stage of the ceasefire agreement and reopen the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt.
In December, Hamas warned that Israel’s continued violations of the Gaza ceasefire were threatening talks on a second phase of the agreement and worsening humanitarian conditions in the enclave.
Tel Aviv has continued to violate the terms of the truce, brokered by Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and the US, carrying out dozens of strikes that have killed and wounded hundreds of Palestinians in the strip, in what Amnesty described as an ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza.
In tandem, Israeli occupation forces have maintained tight restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid and winter supplies to 2.3 million Palestinians battling the spectre of hunger and death from cold conditions in the strip.
* This story was edited by Ahram Online.
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