Israel’s military said on Monday it had retrieved the body of the final remaining hostage held in Gaza, clearing the way for progress to the next phase of a ceasefire and reconstruction plan.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said the remains were those of Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, a police officer and Yamam commando fighter who was killed during Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel and whose body was taken into Gaza.
According to the IDF, intelligence gathered since the ceasefire with Hamas began in October enabled forces to locate and recover Gvili’s body. Hamas had previously said it had been unable to locate him.
Under the ceasefire agreement, Hamas was expected to return all hostages alive and dead within 72 hours of the truce taking effect. Twenty living Israeli hostages and the bodies of 27 Israeli and foreign hostages were returned, leaving Gvili as the last unaccounted-for captive.
“According to the information and intelligence available to us, Sgt. Maj. (res.) Ran Gvili, aged 24 at the time of his death, 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.
“The IDF shares in the family’s grief and will continue to accompany the families and returned hostages while acting to strengthen the security of Israel’s citizens.”
Israel said on Sunday it would reopen Gaza’s main border crossing with Egypt once the operation to recover Gvili was completed.
The retrieval removes a key obstacle to advancing to the second phase of a peace plan proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump. Phase two is expected to include the reconstruction of Gaza and its full demilitarisation, including the disarmament of Hamas and other Palestinian factions.
Israel had resisted moving forward with the next phase of talks until all hostages from Gaza were accounted for.
“With this, all of the hostages from the Gaza Strip area have been returned,” the IDF said.
