Israel buries last captive recovered from Gaza, Netanyahu says 'painful' chapter ends

“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.

• Israel turns off clock marking hostage captivity after 844 days
• Israel recovers final hostage remains, paving way for Rafah crossing reopening

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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