Israelis light the 8th candle of Hanukkah in Hostage Square holding placards bearing the face of Ran Gvili as they call for the return of his remains in Tel Aviv, Israel on December 21, 2025.
Ilya Yefimovich/AFP via Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Ilya Yefimovich/AFP via Getty Images
Israel said on Monday it identified the body of the last Israeli hostage in Gaza and returned him to Israel, paving the way for the long-awaited next step in President Trump’s peace plan.
Ran Gwili, 24, a special forces policeman, died while fighting militants during Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023, the army said in a statement. His body was taken to Gaza by members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a smaller terrorist group than Hamas, which was involved in the attacks.
The army said it launched a “massive operation” for his body at a cemetery in northern Gaza over the weekend based on intelligence. The process required removing the bodies of dead Palestinians until the team, including dental experts, identified Gwili’s remains.
According to Israeli officials, Hamas-led fighters captured 251 hostages in Israel on October 7, 2023.
“We have brought back Israel’s hero, Queen Gwili of blessed memory. There are no longer any hostages in Gaza,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the country’s parliament on Monday.
He and other Israeli leaders removed the yellow ribbon pin they wore during the war that represented hostages in Gaza. “We all wore the pin and now that the mission is accomplished, it is time to remove it,” Netanyahu said.
Israeli soldiers on Monday continued to search for the remains of an Israeli hostage in a mass grave located in the Tufah neighborhood in Gaza City, Gaza Strip. Israeli army tanks and heavy machinery have been seen operating in the area during ongoing excavation and recovery efforts.
Anadolu/Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Anadolu/Getty Images
According to Israeli officials, Hamas-led fighters captured 251 hostages in Israel in the October 7, 2023 attack. The return of Gwili’s remains is expected to mark the end of the first phase of a US-backed ceasefire in the war in Gaza.
It could also pave the way for another big move. The Israeli government said it would reopen Gaza’s border with Egypt to allow entry and exit of Palestinians. It will be the first time the border will be partially opened since May 2024, when Israeli forces captured the area of southern Gaza and Rafah.
The Rafah border will not be opened by Israel to receive aid directly from Egypt. People entering and exiting that border will be allowed by Israel only after checking the names. International journalists are still barred from freely entering Gaza.
Future steps to the ceasefire agreement include Hamas giving up its weapons and Israel withdrawing from Gaza – contentious points on which negotiations have not yet begun.
Hamas officials have indicated that Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza should be accompanied by Hamas giving up heavy weapons such as rockets.
Speaking in Israel’s legislature on Monday, Netanyahu stressed that the next phase of the peace plan “is not reconstruction – the next phase is to disarm Hamas and demilitarize Gaza.”
Most people in Gaza are suffering another rainy winter without adequate shelter and say they desperately need to start rebuilding and more aid such as tents. According to hospitals there, many children have died due to cold in the last weeks.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said in a statement that the discovery of the last Israeli body in Gaza reaffirmed Hamas’ commitment to the ceasefire requirements.
President Trump’s plan also says that an “International Stabilization Force” of troops from various countries would be deployed to Gaza, retrained Palestinian police would take over security and a Palestinian Technical Committee would take over governance from Hamas.
Trump celebrated the return of the last Israeli hostage on his social media platforms. The president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner also welcomed the news, saying that he, Trump and US special envoy Steve Witkoff had worked with the CIA, Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza to make it possible.
“For the first time since 2014, there are no Israeli hostages in Gaza,” Kushner wrote on Twitter.
Meanwhile, Palestinian activists have accused Israel of keeping the bodies of hundreds of dead Palestinians, including children.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassim said that Hamas had provided information to help locate the body. He said this reaffirms Hamas’ commitment to the ceasefire requirements and that the US should now pressure Israel to maintain the ceasefire agreement.
Qassem also called for the opening of the Rafah crossing for aid into Gaza, including medicine and mobile housing equipment.
Gaza’s civil defense rescue services said thousands of bodies of Palestinian civilians lay in the debris of buildings bombed by Israel in more than two years of war, with a lack of heavy equipment making their recovery impossible. He called for heavy equipment to be brought in to evacuate the dead and reconstruction materials to be brought through the Rafah crossing.
This is a developing story that may be updated.
Aya Batrawi reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Daniel Estrin and Itay Stern contributed reporting from Tel Aviv, Israel. Ahmed Abuhamda contributed from Cairo.
<a href