‘The people of Israel are moved to tears’: Nation rejoices at return of hero Ran Gvili, last Israeli hostage in Gaza
“Ran Gvili, our hero, has returned home after 843 days,” Israeli President Isaac Herzog declared on Monday afternoon, giving a voice to the simultaneously sad and joyous mood in Israel after the military announced that Gvili’s body had been discovered in a cemetery in Gaza.
“Ran, a special forces police officer, went out to battle heroically in order to save lives on October 7th. Finally, Ran has been returned home to his family in Israel. The entire people of Israel are moved to tears. Our hearts are with his parents, Talik and Itzik, who fought a noble and heroic battle to bring him home,” Herzog said.
“After many difficult years, for the first time since 2014, there are no Israeli citizens held hostage in Gaza. An entire nation prayed and waited for this moment.”
Soon after the announcement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the Knesset, declaring, “We have returned Ran Gvili, of blessed memory, a hero of Israel. There are no more hostages in Gaza.”
“Hatikva”- the hope 🇮🇱
— LTC Nadav Shoshani (@LTC_Shoshani) January 26, 2026
IDF commanders pay their respect to the last hostage found in Gaza, Israeli hero Ran Gvili z”l
All for one. Leave no man behind! pic.twitter.com/XRuuNO38fp
He opened his remarks with the traditional Jewish blessing of thanks, donning a kippah to recite, “Blessed are You, Lord our G-d, King of the Universe, who has kept us alive, sustained us, and brought us to this season.”
“We all wore the [yellow hostage] pin, and now that the mission is complete, the time has come to remove it. For ‘the sons have returned to their borders and the daughters have returned to their borders’,” Netanyahu said, quoting a slightly altered version of Jeremiah 31:17 before removing the pin from his jacket.
Gvili's mother, Talik, told Kan News that the family “can’t believe” the ordeal is over. “They found him intact, wearing his uniform. It’s an incredible thing. Our pride is stronger than the sadness. The funeral is currently planned for this coming Wednesday. We still haven’t processed that they found Rani,” she said.
Donald J. Trump Truth Social Post 10:58 AM EST 01.26.26 pic.twitter.com/lKC0jW2oU1
— Commentary Donald J. Trump Posts From Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) January 26, 2026
Netanyahu also thanked the U.S. government for its help, before adding, “The next stage is the disarmament of Hamas and the demilitarization of Gaza – not its reconstruction. We have an interest in advancing this stage, not delaying it.”
Shortly after, U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social, “Just recovered the last Hostage body in GAZA. Thus, got back ALL 20 of the living Hostages, and ALL of the Dead! AMAZING JOB! Most thought of it as an impossible thing to do. Congratulations to my great team of Champions!!!”
Trump’s senior advisor, Jared Kushner, said that Gvili’s return “closes one of the darkest chapters of the Middle East conflict,” thanking Trump, special envoy Steve Witkoff, the CIA, along with Netanyahu, the IDF, the mediators in Egypt, Turkey and Qatar and, notably, “many cooperative Gazans.”
I never want to see it again! pic.twitter.com/qKco8btc64
— Ambassador Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) January 26, 2026
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee praised the announcement, calling it “one of the most wonderful bits of news in a long time! ALL hostages home!”
The president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, said Gvili’s return after 842 days “brings a semblance of closure to this painful period for his family, his loved ones and his nation. They can now finally grieve as they lay him to rest. May his memory be a blessing and may this be a moment of hope for the entire region.”
Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., Yechiel Leiter, wrote on 𝕏: “Every one of our brave soldiers who fought in Gaza, sacrificing comfort, family and often their own lives, did it so we can get to this moment. Thanks to their bravery, there will be no more yellow ribbons in the streets of Israel.” Leiter’s firstborn son was killed in the war while serving with the IDF in Gaza.
For the first time since 2014, there are no hostages held in Gaza.
— Bring Them Home Now (@bringhomenow) January 26, 2026
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum was established one day after October 7, with a single, urgent mission: to bring home the 255 men, women, and children taken hostage to Gaza. What began as a moment of… pic.twitter.com/FyBFJxCnx2
Israeli Deputy Minister Almog Cohen, who knew Gvili, vowed to “do everything to tell future generations about your extraordinary heroism and your sacrifice for the nation and the homeland. That morning, the easiest and simplest thing for you would have been to stay home while wounded in the shoulder – but you chose to come to the unit, arm yourself, and defend Kibbutz Alumim, thereby saving the lives of hundreds of civilians.”
In the evening, police held a brief ceremony at the IDF’s Nahal Oz base near the Gaza border to honor fallen Master Sgt. Ran Gvili.
Gvili’s father, Itzik, and Police Commissioner Daniel Levy attended the ceremony. Gvili's body was escorted to the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute in Tel Aviv in a convoy.
The funeral is set for Wednesday.
The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
