Photo by
Police Spokesperson/TPS-IL on 13 November, 2025
‘All the Abductees Have Been Returned’: Israel Confirms Return of Last Hostage, Ran Gvili
Jerusalem, 26 January, 2026 (TPS-IL) -- After 843 days, the remains of the last Israeli missing from Hamas’ October 7 attack was returned, the Israel Defense Forces announced on Monday.
“After completing the identification process by the National Center for Forensic Medicine in cooperation with the Israel Police and the Military Rabbinate, IDF representatives informed the family of the abducted Ran Gvili, of blessed memory, that their loved one has been identified and is being buried,” the IDF said.
“With this, all of the abductees have been returned from the Gaza Strip,” the IDF added.
Gvili’s remains were found in a cemetery in Gaza City. According to IDF assessments, Palestinian Islamic Jihad likely buried Gvili with other terrorists, not realizing who he was.
On the morning of October 7, 2023, Police Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, 24, was killed while defending Kibbutz Alumim and his body taken to Gaza.
A member of Yasam, an elite police unit, Gvili was at the hospital waiting to undergo surgery for a broken shoulder when he learned of Hamas’ attack on southern Israel. He rushed home, put on his uniform and joined other personnel heading to Alumim.
A resident of the Negev town of Meitar, Gvili is credited with rescuing around 100 people who fled the nearby Nova Music Festival, and with killing 14 Hamas terrorists. The last word heard from Gvili was when he texted a friend saying he had been shot in the leg.
The military declared Gvili dead based on intelligence in January 2024.
Gvili, an avid guitarist, motorcyclist, and amateur carpenter, is survived by his parents, a brother and a sister.
Around 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken captive by Hamas during the October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel.
