Mother of deceased hostage Ran Gvili says US convinced Hamas doesn’t know where body is located

Talik Gvili, the mother of deceased hostage Ran Gvili, an Israel Police special unit fighter who was killed on Oct. 7, recently spoke with Israeli news site Ynet News, following her return from meeting U.S. President Donald Trump last week. 

Gvili and her husband accompanied Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Florida, where they met with Trump and other White House officials. Talik Gvili shared that the U.S. officials express “real concern” over the fate of Ran’s remains. 

The Gvili family met withTrump at his Mar-a-Lago estate last Tuesday, along with Netanyahu and other U.S. and Israeli officials. During the meetings, the family asked Trump not to move forward with second phase of the agreement with Hamas, until the remains of their son, Ran Gvili, are returned to Israel. 

“They told us very unequivocally that they will bring Rani back, that they are working on it, that everyone is all-in on the situation,” Gvili told Ynet regarding her meeting with Trump and officials, including special envoy Steve Witkoff, and Trump advisor Jared Kushner. 

“We heard it from them very clearly,” she said. “It didn’t feel like they would disappoint us. I am very sharp. I saw real concern in their eyes. I know they are making every effort.” 

She also said that Trump promised not to allow construction in Gaza until Ran’s remains are returned. 

"During the meeting, he told me unequivocally, 'I'm bringing Rani back,' and emphasized that the U.S. is all in on everything related to his return,” Talik Gvili told Hebrew news site Ma'ariv. “When I told him that I was worried about moving to the second phase and the possibility that things would be built in Gaza while my son was still there, he looked at me and said, ‘Don't worry, no towers will be built. Nothing will be built in Gaza until Rani returns." 

However, Talik Gvili shared with Ynet her concern that the U.S. government is too trusting of Hamas and the Palestinian terror factions, who have said they do not know where his remains are located. 

“The only problem is that they (the Americans) really believe Hamas,” Talik Gvili told Ynet. “That ‘Hamas doesn’t know where Rani is.’ That after everything that happened, Islamic Jihad said it released all its prisoners.” 

“This is not a cat that was thrown in the trash,” Gvili noted. “This is a grown man who fought on the battlefield, in uniform. I don’t think this is some small toy that gets lost.” 

Israeli authorities believe that Palestinian Islamic Jihad has information related to Gvili’s whereabouts, and the IDF has reportedly conducted searches in territory behind the Yellow Line to locate clues. 

Two weeks ago, the Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported that Israel had carried out covert operations across the "Yellow Line" in the Gaza Strip in an attempt to gather information about the whereabouts of Gvili's body. At that time, the IDF did not comment on the searches. 

That same day, Palestinian sources claimed that as part of the covert operations, the IDF "kidnapped" a member of the military wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which is believed to be holding Gvili's body. The PIJ denies that it has Gvili’s remains, but Israel believes the group knows where the remains are located. 

According to several reports, Hamas searched for Gvili's body at several locations in Gaza City, based on information passed on by Israel through intermediaries in recent weeks. However, the information did not lead to the discovery of the body. Israel insists on the return of Gvili's body before agreeing to move on to the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire. 

With the failure to return Gvili's body, and the rejection of disarmament by Hamas, Defense Minister Israel Katz recently instructed the IDF to prepare plans for a resumption of fighting in the Gaza Strip. Katz also reportedly ordered the military to intensify its efforts to locate and destroy any remaining Hamas terror tunnels before any move to the second phase, or a renewal of military operations.

Ran Gvili, 24, was an officer in the special patrol unit of the Negev District of the Israel Police. On Oct. 7, 2023, he was killed fighting against Palestinian terrorists in Kibbutz Alumim. Following his death, his body was kidnapped to the Gaza Strip. 

He is survived by his parents, Talik and Yitzhak, and his siblings Omri and Shira.