Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that the return of the body of Police Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, the last hostage in Gaza, was “an extraordinary achievement for Israel,” as US President Donald Trump hailed his own administration’s “amazing job” in securing his recovery and impromptu gatherings were held across Israel to mark the first time in over 11 years without captives held in the Strip.

Gvili’s body was snatched to Gaza on October 7, 2023, after he was killed defending Kibbutz Alumim in southern Israel during the Hamas-led onslaught that sparked the war in the Gaza Strip. His body was found a day after Israel confirmed searching for it in a Gaza City cemetery based on new intelligence.

The return of Gvili’s body was “an extraordinary achievement for the Israel Defense Forces, the State of Israel, the citizens of Israel, because you gave us the backing to complete the work,” Netanyahu told reporters at the Knesset in Jerusalem.

“We promised, and I promised, to bring everyone back, and we brought everyone back, down to the last one,” he said. “Rani is a hero of Israel. He went in first; he came out last. He came back.”

Speaking later in the Knesset plenum, Netanyahu ceremoniously removed from his lapel the yellow ribbon pin that has come to symbolize the struggle for the hostages’ return.

“Now that the mission is accomplished, it’s time to take it off,” he said.

With the last hostage back, the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire “is not rehabilitation, but the disarmament of Hamas and demilitarization of Gaza,” Netanyahu added.

“We have an interest in promoting that phase and not delaying it,” he said. He did not comment on Israel’s own commitments as part of the second phase, including letting more aid into Gaza and reopening the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt. On Sunday, his office said Israel would open the crossing once the search for Gvili’s body was complete.

The return of Gvili’s body marked the first time since 2014 that there were no Israelis held hostage in Gaza, as even before October 7, Hamas had been holding two Israeli civilians and the bodies of two soldiers hostage.

President Isaac Herzog said in a statement on Gvili’s return that “the entire people of Israel is moved to tears.”

“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. May Ran’s memory be a blessing,” he said.

Herzog also published a video of himself and his wife, Michal, removing their hostage pins. In a second video, they told Gvili’s parents, Talik and Itzik, over the phone that “the heart of the entire people of Israel is exploding with love for you.”

The parents could be heard thanking the president and his wife for their support, with Talik saying: “We’re proud of our country and our troops.” In her own comments later outside the Gvili family home in southern Israel’s Meitar, Talik tearfully reiterated that message, saying, “Our pride is much, much stronger than our pain.”

In another, English-language, post, Herzog said his residence had “finally removed the yellow chair” that many Israeli institutions had erected to honor the hostages........

© The Times of Israel