JERUSALEM — The body of the Hamas-murdered hostage Ran Gvili was retrieved by the IDF from a Muslim cemetery in Gaza on Jan. 26, 2026.
On Oct. 7, 2023, Gvili was murdered by Hamas terrorists and his body was held for 843 days.
“The pride is so much stronger than the sadness,” Talik Gvili said on Jan. 26, speaking with reporters outside the family home in Meitar, southern Israel.
“We are a strong, alive people of Israel,” Gvili’s mother told Reuters. “We really want to thank everyone here: all those who helped and supported and gave us so much strength over these two years and four months.
Under the terms of the Oct. 10, 2025 ceasefire, Gvili’s body was supposed to be returned Oct. 13. Hamas consistsently denied knowing where Gvili was, but Israel’s interrogation of a Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist and other Gazans yielded the truth: Gvili was buried by the terrorists in a Muslim cemetery in Gaza.
“We have a closure,” the bereaved mother stated. “Rani returned home an Israeli hero — really, an Israeli hero, and we are the most proud of him in the world.”
His sister, Shira Gvili, thanked US President Donald Trump, his special envoy Steve Witkoff, Board of Peace member Jared Kushner” and other “people behind the scenes” in her statement to Reuters.
“Mr. President, when you looked in our eyes and you said, ‘We’re going to bring Ran home,’ and you promised us, we believed you, and we are thankful for this,” she said. “I want to thank everyone who helped us.”
The Israeli military on Jan. 26 released details about “Operation Brave Heart” that led to the discovery of Gvili’s remains.
According to the IDF, 20 military dentists helped soldiers examine some 250 bodies in just over 24 hours, after intelligence narrowed down the search to a specific plot inside a cemetery in the northern Gaza Strip.
As part of the intelligence efforts, multiple Palestinians from Gaza were detained and interrogated, providing information about the specific section of the cemetery where Gvili was buried, the IDF said.
According to Israel’s Channel 12, around three months ago, the IDF’s Southern Command granted a request by soldiers to move the truce-instituted Yellow Line to include the Muslim cemetery, citing security concerns that the area contained locations hidden from troops’ view.
Without the expansion of the Yellow Line and subsequent clearing of the area, soldiers would likely have been unable to operate freely without Hamas’s consent, according to the Channel 12 report.
An IDF soldier who took part in the operation told the broadcaster that troops secured and provided cover for the compound while specialist units, including military dentists, exhumed around 700 graves.
Gvili was found wrapped in a body bag from Gaza’s Hamas-affiliated Shifa Hospital while still wearing his police uniform, shoes and belt.
Hebrew media aired footage of Israel Police Commissioner Danny Levy telling Gvili’s parents that their son “was found intact in his police uniform.” The top cop said: “I don’t know if this is comforting, but it is important for you to know.”
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir on Monday visited the cemetery where Gvili was found and spoke with the reservists and medical teams who took part in the operation.
“Ran Gvili’s body has been located, and with this, in effect, our primary mission has been completed: the return of all hostages, the living and the fallen, to their homes, their country, their families,” Zamir stated.
“For more than two years, we have been waiting for this moment, the return of the last hostage.
“Blessed are You, L-rd our G-d, King of the Universe, who has granted us life, sustained us and enabled us to reach this moment.”
“This mission has been completed. I want to express great appreciation to you,” he told the soldiers.
“Ahead of us lies the continuation of our effort — we will continue to pursue our enemies wherever they may be.”
A separate military statement on Jan. 26 paid respects to “the hundreds of civilians murdered, the 924 IDF soldiers who fell in battle and fought with bravery in order to achieve the war’s goals and the moral duty to return the hostages, as well as the security forces personnel who risked their lives, the bereaved families who have lost their loved ones and the 20,000 injured individuals in body and in soul who were wounded for the protection of the State of Israel.
Israeli soldiers “operated day and night, on the front lines and deep in enemy territory, while greatly endangering their lives, with unwavering determination and a deep commitment to the sanctity of life, in order to establish conditions that would allow the return of all hostages.”
