Standing over the coffin of his son that has been draped in an Israeli flag, Itzik Gvili appeared at a loss for words.

For 843 days, since Ran Gvili left home on October 7, 2023, to fight Hamas terrorists before being killed and taken to Gaza, Itzik Gvili and his wife, Talik, had held out the slimmest of hopes that their boy was still alive — despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

Now, standing bereft over the coffin, the father lifted up his hand and raised his eyebrows. “What can I say?” he asked, sighing.

Then, in the presence of police officers and soldiers accompanying Ran Gvili on his final journey home, Itzik spoke to his son.

“You dummy, you had every chance to stay at home,” he said, a soft smile playing on his lips. “But you said, ‘Dad.’ What did you tell me? ‘I won’t leave my friends to fight alone.'”

He continued, “You should see the respect that you’re getting here, everyone who brought you. The whole police force is with you, the whole army is with you, the whole nation is with you.”

As his hand patted the coffin, he added, “I’m proud of you, my son.”

Then he bent down and kissed the coffin.

The coffin was then taken to Tel Aviv’s National Institute of Forensic Medicine for a more robust identification process. Gvili was set to be given a proper Jewish burial on Wednesday.

Itzik Gvili’s words were a striking moment in an evening full of emotion for Israel, as the return of Ran’s body marked the end of the more than two-year-long ordeal of the hostages and their families.

“I want to thank everyone who stood by us for the last two years,”........

© The Times of Israel