The Israeli military announced that the remains of the final Israeli hostage have been recovered from Gaza.
Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, 24, was killed on Oct. 7, 2023, and taken to Gaza by Hamas. Over 250 people were taken during the terrorist attack, and the recovery of all of their remains has been a key hurdle in peace negotiations.
The Israel Defense Forces announced on Sunday afternoon that it “began a targeted operation” to retrieve Gvili’s remains in northern Gaza. Less than 24 hours later, the IDF announced on Monday morning, “There are officially no more hostages in captivity in Gaza.”
“SFC Ran, a police officer, was on medical leave on Oct. 7, but when Hamas’ attack began, he heroically ran to join his unit and defended Kibbutz Alumim. He was shot in the leg and died during battle before being taken hostage to Gaza,” the IDF wrote on X.
The announcement marks the first time since 2014 that no Israeli hostages have been held in Gaza.
President Donald Trump celebrated the news Monday.
“Just recovered the last Hostage body in GAZA,” he wrote on Truth Social. “Thus, got back ALL 20 of the living Hostages, and ALL of the Dead! AMAZING JOB! Most thought of it as an impossible thing to do. Congratulations to my great team of Champions!!!”
With all the hostages returned, Phase Two of Trump’s Gaza peace plan is in place, and the Rafah border crossing is expected to reopen.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu conditioned the Rafah border crossing reopening on the return of all living hostages to Israel and the “execution of 100% effort on the part of Hamas to locate and return all deceased hostages.” His office said in a Sunday statement that upon the return of Gvili, “and in accordance with what has been agreed upon with the US, Israel will open the Rafah Crossing.”
The Rafah border crossing sits along the Gaza Strip’s border with Egypt, the only land border not shared with Israel. The opening of the crossing would allow key humanitarian aid to flow through to the strip, which has experienced a dire humanitarian crisis since Israel’s attacks on the region in response to Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack.
Over 71,000 Palestinians have died in the region as of the end of 2025, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, as Palestinians have struggled to gain access to food and water. In October, Israel had slowed the number of aid trucks flowing into the Gaza Strip because Hamas had not met its original timeline to return the living and fallen hostages laid out in Trump’s peace plan, and accused them of hijacking the aid.
ISRAEL TO REOPEN RAFAH CROSSING ON A ‘LIMITED BASIS’
In a speech before the Knesset on Monday, Netanyahu said Israel’s next stage is to “demilitarize” Gaza, and that his government has “an interest in advancing this stage, not delaying it.”
“The next phase is not reconstruction,” he said. “The next phase is disarming Hamas and the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip.”
