Ran Gvili: Last Hostage Body Returns Home To Israel

Israeli authorities — the National Center for Forensic Medicine, the Israel Police and the Military Rabbinate — identified Gvili and the IDF notified his family. His return to Israel for burial is being called the final unresolved case from October 7 and a symbolic closing of a painful chapter. Israeli forces recovered the remains of 24-year-old combat soldier Ran Gvili, who was killed on the morning of October 7, 2023 and taken into Gaza. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum called him “the last hostage,” saying he rushed into battle while still recovering from a serious injury and fought until his ammunition was exhausted. The recovery, conducted under an operation named “Courageous Heart,” concentrated on a cemetery in the Shuja’iyya–Daraj Tuffah area near the Yellow Line (identified by authorities as the Albatash cemetery) and involved specialized search teams, dental experts and rabbinical officials. Israeli security services and the Shin Bet said months of intelligence work — including information from a PIJ operative captured in southern Gaza City who admitted moving Gvili’s body and identified others — were crucial to locating and identifying the remains. The IDF credited persistent intelligence and operations against Hamas and said it will continue efforts to recover hostages, support bereaved families and bolster civilian security.