The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported this Monday (26) that they rescued the remains of the last hostage held by the terrorist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
According to Reuters, the IDF said in a statement that the remains of Sergeant First Class Ran Gvili have been identified and will be handed over to his family for burial.
He was a member of the Israel Police Special Forces and was 24 years old when he was killed during Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023; his body was taken to Gaza.
A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, brokered by the United States, came into force on October 10 last year, despite both sides exchanging accusations of violating the pause in fighting.
Within the first phase of the peace plan proposed by American President Donald Trump, all 48 Israeli hostages still remaining in Gaza were to be released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
All 20 living hostages were released in the first days of the ceasefire, but Hamas took months to hand over the remains of the dead hostages.
On Sunday (25), the IDF reported that it had launched a “targeted operation” in northern Gaza to recover Gvili’s remains. On the same day, the Israeli government had informed that it would only reopen the Rafah crossing, which connects Gaza to Egypt, after the conclusion of this operation.
This Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the rescue of Gvili’s remains represents an “unbelievable achievement for the State of Israel”. “Rani is a hero of Israel, who entered first and left last,” said the prime minister.
On the Truth Social network, Trump also celebrated the result of the operation and suggested that the return of all hostages who remained in Gaza only occurred due to the agreement brokered by the US.
“We just recovered the body of the last hostage in Gaza. So we recovered all 20 hostages alive and all the dead! Incredible work! Most thought it was impossible. Congratulations to my great team of champions!”, wrote the American president.
The second phase of Trump’s plan includes the creation of the so-called Peace Council, to which Trump invited several leaders, including President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), and which will initially oversee the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip after more than two years of war between Israel and Hamas, but the American president wants the council to act as an intermediary in other conflicts around the world.
Although several countries, such as Argentina, Israel, Hungary, Qatar and Turkey, accepted the invitation, other American allies, such as the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Germany and Italy, refused to participate in the council in its current format.
