Final Israeli hostage recovered from Gaza, IDF announces

The Israel Defense Forces have confirmed the recovery of the body of Master Sergeant Ran Gvili, the final remaining Israeli hostage in Gaza. Gvili, a 24-year-old former Yamam commando, had been missing since the outbreak of hostilities on October 7, 2023.

“According to the information and intelligence available to us, Sgt. Maj. (res.) Ran Gvili … fell in battle on the morning of October 7, 2023, and his body was abducted to the Gaza Strip,” the IDF said in a statement, Caliber.Az reports.

The military added, “The IDF shares in the family's grief. The IDF will continue to accompany the families and the returned hostages and to act to strengthen the security of Israel's citizens. With this, all of the hostages from the Gaza Strip area have been returned.”

Gvili’s recovery concludes a weeks-long search. Following the ceasefire with Hamas in October, the militant group had been obligated to return all hostages, both alive and deceased, within 72 hours. While 20 living Israeli hostages and the bodies of 27 deceased Israeli and foreign hostages were handed over, Hamas reported that Gvili’s body could not immediately be located.

On January 25, Israel announced plans to reopen Gaza’s key border crossing with Egypt once the operation to locate and return Gvili was completed.

The return of Gvili’s body now clears the way for Israel and Hamas to proceed to the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s peace plan. This next stage is intended to include the reconstruction and full demilitarisation of Gaza, encompassing the disarmament of Hamas and other Palestinian groups. Israel had reportedly resisted advancing the plan until Gvili was found.

By Vafa Guliyeva