“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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Here's your AnewZ Daily Brief for 28 September 2026. These are the top stories making headlines in technology.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan has arrived in Washington for talks with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on bilateral ties and key regional and international developments, Saudi state news agency SPA reported.
U.S. President Donald Trump has denied reports that he offered Iran sanctions relief and access to frozen funds in exchange for nuclear concessions.
The European Union's decision to simultaneously advance accession talks with Ukraine, Moldova, Montenegro and Albania marks its most ambitious enlargement effort in more than two decades.
China has announced plans to complete the world's first AI-driven geological map of Mars by the end of 2028, a project that aims to reconstruct the red planet's ancient water history and introduce a Chinese framework for Martian geological time that Beijing hopes will become a new global standard.
Norway’s parliament on Wednesday began public hearings into ties between late U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and Norwegian diplomats and politicians, as authorities face questions over the impact of those relationships on the country’s foreign service.
New York prosecutors have reopened a criminal investigation into allegations that seven Cornell University fraternity members sexually assaulted a student in 2024. The case is set to be presented to a grand jury following renewed scrutiny.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has declared that Brexit has done more harm than good, while reaffirming support for Ukraine and NATO as he used his first Labour conference speech as leader to set out a new direction for Britain.
The arrival in South Korea of two North Korean soldiers captured while fighting for Russia has created a rare legal, diplomatic and humanitarian case, raising questions over their status, security and future.
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