Israel on Monday recovered the remains of its final missing hostage, 24-year-old Ran Gvili, who died fighting Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023, the Israel Defense Forces announced.
"Sergeant First Class Ran Gvili, who served in the Israeli Police Special Forces, 24 years old at the time of his death, fell in combat on the morning of October 7th, 2023, and his body was abducted to the Gaza Strip," the IDF said. "With this, all hostages from the Gaza Strip have been returned."
As the IDF statement notes, all 251 living and dead hostages are now back in Israel after more than two years since Hamas's attack. The terror group, battered from its war with Israel, had claimed to face difficulties locating Gvili's body, leading the IDF to launch a "large-scale" retrieval operation in northern Gaza. Israeli forces scoured several sites in Gaza where they believed Hamas had placed Gvili's body during the war, including a cemetery in the Strip's northern section and other areas along the ceasefire line, eventually confirming the identity of the remains at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine.
In a video posted to social media, Israeli president Isaac Herzog removed his yellow hostage pin, signaling that the nation is finally healing more than two years after Hamas's brutal terror rampage. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said after Gvili's body was returned that Israel is now prepared to enter the second phase of the plan, which will include "disarming Hamas and the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip."
Gvili's body emerged as a central sticking point for Israel after Hamas had located and handed over each living and dead hostage as part of the ceasefire agreement. The operation to retrieve his remains came just after Middle East peace envoy Steve Witkoff met with Netanyahu to press Israel to begin phase two of the process, which calls for the opening of aid corridors and the beginning of reconstruction efforts. While Israel on Sunday agreed to open the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt—a pipeline both for aid and weapons for Hamas—it appears that the two sides have differing visions on what the next step will entail.
Israel is skeptical that Hamas will disarm on its own and on Tuesday discovered a weapons cache in southern Gaza near the ceasefire line, the Washington Free Beacon reported last week. The Jewish state believes the terror group may be gearing up for a renewed offensive and has drawn up plans for a spring ground operation should Hamas launch widespread attacks. Eyal Zamir, chief of the general staff of the IDF, said last week that the Israeli military is ready "for the possibility of a surprise war."
Netanyahu made clear on Monday that his next objective "is not reconstruction," saying Hamas must be fully disarmed and expelled from Gaza before Israel green-lights any efforts to rebuild.
Disarmament will "happen the easy way or the hard way," Netanyahu said, "but it will happen."
