PIJ confirms body of one of three remaining hostages has been located

Nor did it announce any plans to return them to Israel, as is required under the ceasefire agreement.

Hostage returns were supposed to be completed within 72 hours of the truce, which came into force on October 10.

But Hamas and PIJ have insisted that some of the deceased hostages are buried under the ruins of Gaza and difficult to locate.

There have been no returns since Kibbutz Be'ri resident Meny Godard's body was released on November 13.

Meny had been a professional footballer in the 1970s, before serving in the IDF during the Yom Kippur War.

He had held numerous positions within the kibbutz community, including as Be'ri's chief economist and lifeguard.

He was murdered along with his wife Ayelet by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists who invaded Be’eri on October 7, 2023.

In a eulogy, the kibbutz remembered Meny as having "a love of sports, the ocean and people".

The couple's son, Goni, added: "[They were] people with a special heart of gold… Everyone wanted to say thank you.

"Thank you for all the years that you hugged us and loved us. Thank you for the endless support and help. Thank you for all the experiences we had with you.”

“These are the people you were — people who spread light in every direction, people of people, thank you for everything,

“You will always, always, no matter what, be an inseparable part of us.”

It comes after the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the largest hostage advocacy group in Israel, announced it would be scaling back its operations and closing its Tel Aviv offices.

Established by hostage families in the wake of the attack, it quickly professionalised into a powerful non-profit, acting as the unofficial voice of the hostage campaign, though not speaking for all the families.

The group also placed significant pressure on the Israeli government, including opposing a renewed offensive on Gaza City for fear it could lead to the deaths of captives.

It organised the massive demonstrations in the plaza outside the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, later renamed Hostages’ Square, and was prominent in protests calling for an end to the war.

Now, though, with just three deceased hostages remaining in Gaza, all due to be returned in the near future, the group is paring back its day-to-day activities.

Lior Chorev, the Forum's head of strategy, said: "The official struggle is over.

"There’s a hostage deal, and the US and Israel stand behind it.

"We have to adapt our activities to the fact that there is a deal, and a process that isn’t up to us.

"It doesn’t seem right to continue the rallies because it doesn’t serve [the remaining hostages]."