The IDF found the remains of the last Israeli hostage from the October 7 invasion, St.-Sgt.-Maj. Ran Gvili, on Monday at around 2:00 p.m. at al-Batesh cemetery in the Shejaia-Daraj-Tuffah part of northern Gaza. His funeral will be held on Wednesday in his hometown of Meitar.
The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) on Monday night revealed that the major intelligence development that led to the breakthrough was the capture of a specific Islamic Jihad terrorist with knowledge of Gvili’s remains’ whereabouts around a month ago.
This terrorist also divulged, under Shin Bet interrogation, the identities and locations of additional Islamic Jihad operatives who had been involved in moving Gvili’s body numerous times.
All of this information strengthened the determination that Gvili had been buried at al-Batesh cemetery.
The IDF had checked around 250 Palestinian bodies in the cemetery before finding Gvili. Over 20 dentists worked for the last 24 hours in conjunction with the army to quickly identify the teeth of the 250 bodies exhumed.
According to the IDF, in an earlier briefing on Sunday night, a series of clandestine operations started over the weekend to get closer to the potential location of Gvili. There were four locations where the IDF suspected Gvili might be buried.
Other possibilities about which the IDF had suspicions included a specific tunnel, under Shifa Hospital, and a central spot in Gaza City.
IDF sources rejected the notion that they delayed the operation until now and that they acted only due to political implications surrounding the opening of the Rafah crossing.
In fact, they had already checked the tunnel location before checking the cemetery.
The military did note that an advantage of checking this site was that it was on the Israeli side of the Yellow Line.
Also, recent intelligence strengthened the indications that Gvili was buried in al-Batesh cemetery.
Even on Sunday, the IDF said that the intelligence it obtained about Gvili’s remains was acquired by proactive means, and did not come through help from Hamas under the ceasefire deal. By and by, the IDF said that Hamas, or the Qatari mediators, were consulted about this intelligence and had believed it could be correct.
Military sources implied that Hamas’s recent information about where Gvili might have been buried may have been misdirection.
In addition, IDF sources insinuated that the Palestinian Islamic Jihad may have buried Gvili in the cemetery, thinking incorrectly that he was one of their own fighters or at least Palestinian.
PIJ may have thought Gvili was Palestinian
At around 7:15 p.m. Sunday, the IDF said the search could be completed in a matter of hours or take a number of days.
Further, the army said it had information about this location for a significant period. Still, only the additional evidence it obtained over the weekend’s clandestine operations paved the way for a decision that this location could really be the correct spot.
Along with a large number of IDF mandatory service people, reserve troops, and engineering unit forces, the military team in the field also had rabbinic advisers and a dentist to aid in the identification efforts.
IDF sources said the first step would be to match his fingerprints, but if that was not possible, then teeth or DNA tests would be used next for identification.
Gvili’s identity was eventually confirmed by the L. Greenberg Institute of Forensic Medicine at Abu Kabir, rabbinic advisers, the police, and the IDF.
They immediately notified the Gvili family when the identity confirmation came back positive.
The military is now returning all of the other Palestinian bodies in as dignified a way as possible in order to complete the operation.
Neither the IDF nor the Prime Minister’s Office responded to questions about when 15 Palestinian bodies would be returned to Hamas, given the return of Gvili (according to the ceasefire’s terms), or how many additional Gazan bodies Israel might still be holding.
'Hero of Kibbutz Alumim': Israel reacts to news of final hostage Ran Gvili's return
Gvili's mother, Talik, commented that he was the “first to go and fight in defense of the Gaza border communities, and the last to be returned – our hero!”
“I embrace Talik, Itzik, and the entire noble Gvili family. I looked them in the eyes and said, ‘We will bring Ran home.’ I promise you, citizens of Israel: We will bring them all home,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
“We all wore the 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,’” he added, quoting the biblical Book of Jeremiah.
He also thanked the Coordinator for Hostages and Missing Persons Brig.-Gen. (res.) Gal Hirsch, government colleagues, US President Donald Trump, the Trump administration’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, and the administration’s team for “their great and vital support.”
Earlier, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir called the Gvili family to inform them that the military successfully located Gvili’s remains in the Gaza Strip.
“We kept our promise to leave no one behind. Soldiers, the fighters on the front lines, and the entire nation are excited about Ran’s return to be buried in Israel,” he said.
“The Hamas terrorist organization held four Israeli citizens in captivity throughout the years – Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, and IDF soldiers, Lt. Hadar Goldin and St.-Sgt. Oron Shaul, who fell in battle during Operation Protective Edge in 2014,” the army said.
President Isaac Herzog posted a video of removing his yellow hostages pin as a celebratory act signifying that all of the captives had been returned.
Virtually the entire political spectrum of top Israeli officials also expressed overwhelmingly positive sentiments in light of the event.
The renewed push to locate Gvili came as the government faced the potential embarrassment of having to open Rafah crossing – potentially before Gvili’s remains might have been returned.
Following the finding of Gvili’s remains, the IDF also released a video of Zamir, along with soldiers from the 252nd Division, saluting him and singing the national anthem, “Hatikvah.”
Gvili was murdered on October 7, and then his body was taken to Gaza. His return marks the end of the saga of returning all live and deceased hostages taken by Hamas on October 7.
James Genn contributed to this report.