‘No extra hostages in Gaza’: IDF recovers final captive held by Hamas; stays repatriated to Israel

Israel navy on Sunday recovered the stays of the final hostage held in Gaza Ran Gvili and repatriated to Israel for burial.“Following the identification course of carried out by the Nationwide Forensic Centre, in cooperation with the Israeli police and the navy rabbinate, representatives of the (Israeli navy) knowledgeable the household of hostage Ran Gvili... that their cherished one had been formally recognized and repatriated for burial,” IDF mentioned in a press release.

“With this, all hostages have been returned from the Gaza Strip to the State of Israel”, it added.“There are formally no extra hostages in captivity in Gaza,” IDF mentioned in a social media submit on X.24-year-old Gvili was a non-commissioned officer within the Israeli police’s elite Yassam unit. He was killed in motion throughout Hamas’s assault on Israel on October 7, 2023 and his physique taken to Gaza.‘Right down to the final captive’Moreover, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the return of all these held captive “right down to the final”.“That is a unprecedented achievement for the State of Israel. We promised — and I promised — to convey everybody again. We introduced all of them again, right down to the final captive,” Netanyahu mentioned.“It’s a great achievement for the Israel Protection Forces, for the State of Israel, and likewise for the residents of Israel,” Netanyahu added.Of the 251 individuals kidnapped in the course of the assault on Israel, which sparked the devastating warfare in Gaza, Gvili’s was the final physique remaining within the Palestinian territory.The primary part of the US-backed ceasefire deal which got here into impact in October had stipulated that Palestinian Islamist motion Hamas hand over all of the remaining hostages, dwelling and lifeless.In the meantime, Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem mentioned that the invention of the physique confirms Hamas’s dedication to all the necessities of the ceasefire settlement.“The invention of the physique of the final Israeli prisoner in Gaza confirms Hamas’s dedication to all the necessities of the ceasefire settlement on the Gaza Strip, together with the prisoner trade course of and its full closure as stipulated within the settlement,” he mentioned.