‘Most Thought Of It As Impossible’: Final Hostage Body Returns From Gaza After 842 Days

The body of the final hostage held in Gaza was returned to Israel on Monday.

The body of Ran Gvili, a 24-year-old special-forces police officer who was killed in action on October 7, 2023, was returned to Israel, ending a long effort to force Hamas terrorists to hand over hostages. Gvili was killed while fighting off Hamas terrorists and Gazan civilians who crossed into Israel, massacring, raping, and kidnapping more than a thousand people near the Gaza border. His body was held captive for 842 days.

“We have returned Ran Gvili, of blessed memory, a hero of Israel,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in the Knesset. “There are no more hostages in Gaza.”

Netanyahu added that the yellow ribbon pin worn by people around the world to draw attention to the hostages held can now be removed.

“For ‘the sons have returned to their borders and the daughters have returned to their borders,’” Netanyahu said, quoting the Bible.

Israeli Defense Forces’s Southern Command completed Operation “Courageous Heart” to return Gvili after searching since October for his body. His body was found in a cemetery near Gaza City.

Footage of the IDF recovering the body of the final hostage.

The return of Ran Gvili means all of the hostages are home after 842 days. pic.twitter.com/AvinMQxzPQ

— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) January 26, 2026

Gvili’s parents fought tirelessly to keep their son’s name in the news after the remaining living hostages returned in October. They met with Netanyahu, President Donald Trump, and other members of his administration.

Trump celebrated the news of the final hostage body returning to Israel, congratulating his “great team of Champions.”

“Just recovered the last Hostage body in GAZA. Thus, got back ALL 20 of the living Hostages, and ALL of the Dead!” he posted. “AMAZING JOB! Most thought of it as an impossible thing to do.”

Gvili was recovering from a serious shoulder injury on October 7, 2023, but left the hospital, put on his uniform, and headed south to join the fight against Hamas. He reportedly helped survivors of the Nova music festival before going to join the fight at Kibbutz Alumim.

At 10:50 a.m., he sent text messages saying he had been wounded in the leg. That was the final time his loved ones heard from him.

In total, 255 hostages from the Gaza Strip were rescued and brought back home – 168 of them alive and 87 deceased. Twelve Americans were kidnapped, with only eight being freed alive.

Gvili’s return marks the first time since 2014 that no Israelis are being held in Gaza. Before Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack, four Israelis were already in the Strip, including Hisham al-Sayed, a Bedouin Israeli who crossed into Gaza in April 2015, and Avera Mengistu, who entered in 2014. Both were later released alive in February 2025. Hamas had also held the bodies of the Israeli soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin, who were killed in the 2014 war and whose remains were returned in 2025.

Many of the hostages who have returned testified that they were held for long periods in dark tunnels and subjected to torture, severe starvation, and physical and sexual abuse.