Israeli forces on Monday (Jan 26) brought home the remains of Ran Gvili, the last Israeli hostage held in Gaza, marking the end of a prolonged and deeply emotional chapter that has weighed heavily on Israeli society since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack.
Militants seized 251 hostages during the unprecedented assault on southern Israel, triggering a war that has stretched over more than two years. The effort to recover the captives unfolded through a combination of ceasefire agreements, prisoner swaps and military rescue operations, some of which succeeded while others ended in tragedy. With the return of Gvili’s remains, Israeli authorities said all hostages taken to Gaza have now been accounted for.
Gvili’s coffin was escorted by a convoy of vehicles with flashing lights and blaring sirens as it made its way through southern Israel, where civilians stood along the roadside waving Israeli flags. At a ceremony held at a military base near Gaza, his father, Ytzik Gvili, addressed his son’s coffin in an emotional tribute.
“You should see the honours we’re giving you here,” he said. “I’m proud of you, my son.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed Gvili as “a hero of Israel,” calling the return of all hostages an “extraordinary achievement.”
“We brought them all back, down to the very last captive,” Netanyahu said.
The recovery of Gvili’s body was part of the most recent round of handovers under a US-backed ceasefire agreement that took effect on Oct. 10, aimed at halting fighting that has devastated Gaza. Hamas said it provided information on the location of Gvili’s remains, with spokesman Hazem Qassem stating that the recovery “confirms Hamas’s commitment to all the requirements of the ceasefire agreement.”
Under the first phase of the deal, all hostages were to be returned. Gvili’s family had publicly opposed moving to a second phase before his remains were recovered. On Monday, his mother Talik Gvili described the moment as overwhelming.
“We’ve come full circle – he’s finally coming home, we can’t believe it,” she told Israel’s public broadcaster KAN. “They found him intact, dressed in his uniform.”
The Israeli military confirmed that Gvili’s remains had been definitively identified and repatriated, releasing footage showing his coffin draped in the Israeli flag and surrounded by soldiers singing the national anthem.
Gvili, a 24-year-old police officer in the elite Yassam unit, had been on medical leave ahead of shoulder surgery when Hamas launched its 2023 attack. Rather than staying home, he took his weapon and rode his motorcycle toward the fighting in southern Israel. Known by his family and the nearby kibbutz Alumim as the “Defender of Alumim,” he was killed in combat near the community, and his body was taken to Gaza by Hamas fighters.
President Isaac Herzog said Gvili’s return marked a historic moment. “For the first time since 2014, there are no Israeli citizens held hostage in Gaza. An entire nation prayed and waited for this moment,” he said.
US President Donald Trump also welcomed the development, writing on his Truth Social platform that “most thought of it as an impossible thing to do.”
The announcement came amid reports that US envoys had urged Israel to reopen Gaza’s Rafah crossing, a key entry point for aid. Israeli officials said the crossing would open but only to pedestrian traffic into Egypt. For displaced Palestinians, the move raised hopes of mobility after months of isolation.
Netanyahu said Israel was now “at the doorstep of the next phase” of the ceasefire deal, which calls for the disarmament of Hamas and the demilitarisation of Gaza — conditions the group has so far refused to accept.
In Tel Aviv, members of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum gathered again at Hostages Square. “We can finally say: there are no longer any hostages in Gaza,” the group said, describing Gvili as “a true friend, loved by everyone.”
The war began with Hamas’s 2023 attack, which killed 1,221 people in Israel, according to official figures. Israel’s subsequent military campaign has killed at least 71,660 people in Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry, figures the United Nations considers credible.
