“The burial of Ran Gvili brings an end to the painful reality of the existence of Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday (28 January) as Israel laid to rest the last captive recovered from Gaza after the 7 October, 2023 attacks.
Hundreds of mourners attended the funeral of Ran Gvili, an off-duty police officer killed while fighting Hamas militants during the attack on southern Israel. His remains were later taken into Gaza by the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, Israeli officials said.
Of the roughly 250 people abducted during the October 7 assault, Gvili was the final hostage to be returned, dead or alive.
He was buried in his hometown of Meitar in southern Israel after a funeral procession that began at Camp Shura, the military facility where victims of the attack were identified.
Police officers and civilians carrying Israeli flags lined parts of the route as Gvili’s casket was driven to the cemetery.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog also delivered a eulogy, saying the nation mourned Gvili, who was 24 when he died. “The shattered fragments of our hearts can slowly begin to gather toward healing and repair,” Herzog said.
Among those attending the procession was Tzvika Mor, whose son Eitan Mor was taken hostage and released last October. “So we’re here to say goodbye and to stand with the Gvili family,” he said, calling Gvili a hero.
Gvili’s aunt, Harel Plachinsky, described the burial as a moment of closure. “This is some kind of ending the war,” she said. “I think that the seventh of October is ending today.”
Under an October agreement brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump, Hamas and other groups agreed to return all remaining hostages, alive or dead, in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners. The burial of Gvili completes a central element of the deal’s initial phase.
The return and burial of the final hostage is widely seen in Israel as a moment of national healing following what many consider the most traumatic event in the country’s history.
The second stage of the plan, which Washington said began earlier this month, also includes the reopening of Gaza’s Rafah border crossing with Egypt.
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Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has slowed, according to the latest data, as uncertainty over the waterway’s reopening kept most shipowners away. Six commodity vessels crossed the strait on Tuesday, down from nine the day before and below the 10-day daily average of 11.
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains limited on Thursday, with no increase in vessel crossings as U.S.-Iran talks to resolve the conflict remained stalled. Nine commodity vessels transited the key waterway on Wednesday, unchanged from the previous day, according to Kpler data.
Iran has said the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the U.S. fulfils the terms of an interim deal, including lifting the maritime blockade and sanctions and releasing Iran’s frozen assets.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 19th of August, covering the latest developments.
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains limited on Thursday, with no increase in vessel crossings as U.S.-Iran talks to resolve the conflict remained stalled. Nine commodity vessels transited the key waterway on Wednesday, unchanged from the previous day, according to Kpler data.
South Korea estimates North Korea possesses between 80 and 120 nuclear warheads, its defence minister said on Thursday, citing a range significantly higher than U.S. President Donald Trump's recent assertion that Pyongyang has 57 nuclear weapons.
Russian ballistic missile strikes on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv has killed at least sixteen people and injured more than forty others, Ukrainian officials said, with fires reported across the city and Poland activating defensive air operations.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 20th of August, covering the latest developments.
Britain has summoned Israel’s chargé d’affaires and demanded that the Israeli government withdraw a tender for construction in the controversial E1 settlement area in the West Bank.
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