Israeli Government Says It Fulfilled Its Mission After Ran Gvili Returned From Gaza

The Israeli government said it had fulfilled its "moral mission" after the announcement of the return of the last Israeli hostage in the Gaza Strip, and President Isaac Herzog said this was the first time since 2014 that there were no Israelis left, dead or alive, held hostage in Gaza.

“The fiancée of the released prisoner Adham Al-Bana did not yield to the certainty that had gripped his family after his martyrdom three years ago; instead, she rushed to sell her gold jewelry and hire a lawyer to search for his fate, turning the story from a house of mourning for him and his three brothers into a warm embrace when he returned from the occupation's prisons alive and thriving”

Al-Jazeera Net

RTBF reported that of the 207 hostages taken alive, 41 have died or were killed in captivity, and that the last hostage returned was Ran Gvili, a police officer killed while defending the Aloumim kibbutz during the Hamas attack.

Al-Jazeera Net

RTBF described Gvili as 24 years old, a member of Yassam in the Negev desert region, and said he was on medical leave on October 7 awaiting shoulder surgery when he decided to join his unit with his service weapon.

RTBF further quoted Colonel Guy Madar, who said, "We were both wounded," describing battles pitting Israeli defenders in numbers far smaller than about forty Palestinian attackers before the officers separated after being wounded.

Al-Jazeera Net described how the fiancée of the released prisoner Adham Al-Bana sold her gold jewelry and hired a lawyer to search for his fate after his family had been gripped by certainty of his martyrdom three years earlier.

The outlet said Adham’s return was documented by journalist Osama Al-Kahlout from the Gaza Strip, who captured photos of his first moments back and his meeting with his mother, siblings, and fiancée.

RTBF

Al-Jazeera Net reported that the details of Adham’s return were tied to a group of 17 prisoners transferred to Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, turning long mourning into "tears of joy" and a long-awaited embrace.

It also described how blogger Mohammed al-Dahdoh called the return a humanitarian miracle, while blogger Mohammed Haniya said the story reflects the suffering of families living with deadly confusion between missing, detainee, and martyr.

Al-Jazeera Net said United Nations estimates indicate between 8,000 and 11,000 missing persons in Gaza, mostly women and children, and said the Gaza government information office statistics match that range.

“The fiancée of the released prisoner Adham Al-Bana did not yield to the certainty that had gripped his family after his martyrdom three years ago; instead, she rushed to sell her gold jewelry and hire a lawyer to search for his fate, turning the story from a house of mourning for him and his three brothers into a warm embrace when he returned from the occupation's prisons alive and thriving”

Al-Jazeera Net

The outlet added that the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics estimates thousands missing under the rubble outside that classification, and that the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor reported more than 13,000 people under the rubble of homes or in mass graves.

Al-Jazeera Net reported that Save the Children confirmed between 17,000 and 21,000 children among the missing, and said the lack of search capabilities and difficulty of identifying bodies made determining fate more complex.

It also said rights reports confirm that a large number were subjected to enforced disappearance inside Israeli prisons without providing any information about them, explaining how a detainee like Adham could return alive after years his family believed he had died.