Israel confirms no more hostages in Gaza as ceasefire moves to second phase

(TNND) — Israel’s military declared on Monday that “there are officially no more hostages in captivity in Gaza,” paving the way for the second phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Ran Gvili, a 24-year-old police officer, was killed in the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack that started the war. He had been found and identified a day after Israel’s government said the military was conducting a “large-scale operation” in a cemetery in northern Gaza.

“The deceased hostage SFC Ran Gvili has been identified and will be returned for burial,” Israel Defense Forces wrote on social media. “According to the information and intelligence available to us, SFC Ran Gvili, 24, who served in the Israeli Police Special Forces, fell in combat on the morning of Oct. 7, 2023, and his body was abducted to Gaza.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it “an incredible achievement” for Israel and its soldiers, telling Israeli media that “I promised we would bring everyone home and we have brought everyone home.”

Netanyahu’s office said Sunday that Israel would open the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, which Palestinians see as their lifeline to the world, once the search for Gvili was finished. It has been largely shut since May 2024, except for a small period in early 2025.

President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff launched the second phase of the U.S.-brokered 20-point ceasefire plan on Jan. 14.

The ceasefire deal that Trump helped negotiate will move into disarming Hamas, rebuilding the war-ravaged territory and establishing the group of Palestinian experts that will administer daily affairs in Gaza under American supervision.

The parents, Gvili, met in December with Rubio, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, ahead of a meeting with Trump, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

“The family urged officials not to move forward with Phase 2 of the agreement before Ran, the last remaining hostage in Gaza, is returned home,” the group said on X.

Before Gvili’s remains were recovered, 20 living hostages and the remains of 27 others had been returned to Israel since the ceasefire, most recently in early December. Israel, in exchange, has released the bodies of hundreds of Palestinians to Gaza.

The Oct. 7, 2023, attack killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage.

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Editor’s note: The Associated Press contributed to this article.