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Remains of last hostage announced GazaRan Gvili recovered from health on Monday, ending a shocking and painful saga Israel Two and a half years and delays with Hamas.
Emotions are running high in Israel after the body of the 24-year-old policeman was found in a battle with militants on October 7, 2023, during a Hamas-led attack that sparked the war in Gaza. Apart from Israel, many hope the ceasefire will move into a second phase.
But for Gweli’s friends and family, the mourning process may begin after a painful, months-long search.
“We saw all the other families’ sons coming back, and we saw in their eyes the relief,” his sister, Shira Gvili, told The Associated Press in early December, when the last hostages besides her brother were freed. “That’s why it’s so important. Because we want to move on with our lives and just remember Lani.”
From that time on, the story of Gweli was well known to the people of Israel. He was recovering from a broken shoulder on the day of the Oct. 7 attack, but rushed to assist other officers. He was killed in a fight with militants trying to enter the kibbutz, and his body was taken to Gaza. The military confirmed his death four months later.
He is survived by his parents, a sister and a brother.
“First to leave, last to leave,” his mother, Talik Gvili, wrote on Facebook on Monday after receiving the news. “Our hero.”
the last hostage
Several Israeli leaders on Monday posted videos of themselves removing yellow ribbon pins, signaling that the fight to repatriate the hostages was over.
“The entire Israeli people was moved to tears,” President Isaac Herzog wrote on X. “This was an operation of inestimable importance in fulfilling the sacred duty of rescuing captives.”
He noted that this was the first time since 2014 that Israel had not held any hostages in Gaza. That year, two soldiers were killed and their bodies were shipped to Gaza. The Israeli military recovered one of the bodies, and Hamas released the second in November.
Hamas released 20 hostages as part of a ceasefire that took effect on October 10 and released 27 of the 28 hostages within two months, but said they were unable to find Gweli’s body.
Many Israelis fear his remains will never be found.
Gweli was one of 251 people, mostly civilians, kidnapped in the Oct. 7 attack in which Hamas-led militants killed more than 1,200 people. During the subsequent war in Gaza, approximately 71,660 Palestinian They were killed, according to Gaza’s health ministry. The ministry, which is part of the Hamas government, keeps detailed casualty records that U.N. agencies and independent experts consider generally reliable.
On Sunday, Hamas said it was doing all it could to find Gweli and that it was handing over information on the possible location of the body to Israel. Troops were said to be conducting searches in one of the designated areas in northern Gaza.
The Israeli military said Gweli’s remains were identified through his teeth after a massive operation to exhume dozens of bodies from the cemetery.
Israeli media footage showed dozens of soldiers hugging each other and singing religious songs as his body was identified and exhumed.
killed in battle
Shira Gvili said Gvili was home on the morning of the Oct. 7 attack. He had been on medical leave from his elite police force. Still, when he heard that a gunman had attacked panicked party-goers at the Nova Music Festival, he headed to the venue with others from his unit.
Nova later became the site of the largest massacre of civilians in Israeli history. Militants killed at least 364 people and took more than 40 hostages.
Gwiley and other officers never got there, his sister said. Instead, they encountered militants at Kibbutz Arumin.
“He warned his team over the radio that more vehicles carrying terrorists were approaching,” his mother said in an interview with Ynet. “He fired and they came at him. He fought them alone, wounded in his legs and arms, and he took down those monsters.”
“Aluminum Shield”
A sign stood at the entrance to Kibbutz Alumim, one of the many border villages attacked by militants on October 7, with a photo of Gvili smiling in uniform and his name underneath.
“He fought heroically and saved the lives of kibbutz members,” the sign read. “Since then, he has been known as ‘Rani, the Shield of Arumim.'”
Unlike the residents of other Israeli kibbutzim that were attacked that day, the residents of Arumim survived. They attribute this to people like Gweli, who along with emergency team members, soldiers and police officers fended off waves of militants.
However, migrant workers on the kibbutz suffered a different fate. According to Israeli newspapers, 22 foreigners were killed in an agricultural area outside the kibbutz’s defense perimeter haaretz.
Final step in first phase of ceasefire
The return of Gweli’s body marks the completion of the first phase of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point ceasefire plan.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to reopen the Rafah crossing, which connects Gaza and Egypt and is seen by Palestinians as a lifeline to the world. The crossing has been largely closed since May 2024.
Next steps for a ceasefire that the U.S. envoy has been pushing for the past week will be more complicated. Key elements include deploying an international force to secure Gaza, disarming Hamas and forming an interim Palestinian government that would handle day-to-day affairs under the oversight of an international commission led by Trump.
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Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel.