Israel Has Returned The Body Of The Last Dead Hamas Hostage

• 26.01.2026, 19:07

His body was found in a cemetery in eastern Gaza City.

The Israeli military has recovered and identified the body of the last Hamas hostage in a cemetery in eastern Gaza City, Staff Sergeant Ran Gwili, writes The Times of Israel. Gvili was the last hostage yet to be returned to his homeland.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said the return of the sergeant's body "is an outstanding achievement for Israel." "We promised, and I promised, to bring everyone back, and we brought everyone back," he stressed, calling Gwili "a hero of Israel."

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began exhuming hundreds of bodies at a Muslim cemetery in Gaza over the weekend in search of the body of the last hostage, with some 250 of them examined. Gwili's body is now being taken back to Israel for burial.

Gwili was a 24-year-old policeman, he died defending Kibbutz Alumim in southern Israel during a Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. At that time, 251 hostages were taken.