844 days after Hamas terrorists attacked Israel, the remains of the last hostage has been recovered and returned to his family.
The last hostage taken by Hamas on October 7, 2023, has been returned to Israel.
“Israel recovers body of last hostage in Gaza,” reported Tal Shalev and Billy Stockwell for CNN on Monday. “The Israeli military announced Monday that it has recovered the remains of the final deceased hostage in Gaza, marking the first time since 2014 that there are no Israeli hostages in the enclave.”
“Ran Gvili, an Israeli police officer whose body was taken to Gaza after he was killed on October 7, 2023, was the last of the hostages slain or abducted on that date whose remains were still in Gaza. He was posthumously promoted to the rank of first sergeant, according to the Israeli government.”
“Tomorrow, we are laying Rani to his eternal rest,” said Shira Givili, sister of Ran Gvili. “For the last 844 days, I felt every minute…the world kept moving, but I wanted it to stop with us.”
“On October 7, our clock stopped,” said Gvili. “Now we can really stop the clock. Now, I can say that Rani is here with us — Rani is home.”
It is the “moment hoped for and prayed for by an entire nation,” said Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
“Just recovered the last HOSTAGE body in GAZA,” U.S. President Donald Trump said in a statement. “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!”
“[Hamas] worked very hard to get the body back,” President Trump acknowleged in an interview with Axios. “They were working with Israel on it. Now we have to disarm Hamas like they promised.”
“Mission Accomplished,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “We promised to bring everyone home, and we returned them all, until the last of them. Rani is a hero, he went in first and got out last, and now he is on his way home”.
The recovery is the benchmark set by Mr. Trump in his 20-point peace plan. With this grim milestone reached, the plan can begin phase two.
Phase One was about stopping the war and closing the hostage chapter: a ceasefire, an Israeli pullback to agreed lines, the return of all hostages — living and deceased — and prisoner exchanges. With the recovery of the final hostage’s remains this week, those conditions have now been met.
Phase Two is harder. It moves from crisis management to transformation: humanitarian surge, technocratic governance, demilitarization of Hamas, international stabilization forces, and gradual Israeli withdrawal tied to security benchmarks. If it holds, Gaza shifts from battlefield to reconstruction zone — and from terror governance to something new.
(Contributing writer, Brooke Bell)