Israeli officials confirmed the return of the last hostage held by Hamas, triggering the transition to the next stage of President Trump’s ceasefire and peace framework for Gaza.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The remains of the final Israeli hostage held in Gaza were returned to Israel on Monday, completing the first phase of President Donald Trump’s ceasefire agreement and allowing the next stage of his 20-point peace plan to proceed.
The Israel Defense Forces said it had formally identified the remains of Ran Gvili, the last hostage whose body was held in Gaza, according to reporting by The Hill. Gvili, 24, served in the Israeli Police Force and was killed during Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
The return of all living and deceased hostages abducted by Hamas was a central condition of the first phase of Trump’s ceasefire agreement, which went into effect on Oct. 10. With the final remains returned, Israeli and U.S. officials said the agreement has met its initial requirements.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the recovery of Gvili’s body as a major national milestone. “This is an extraordinary achievement for Israel,” Netanyahu said. “We promised, and I promised, to bring everyone back, and we brought everyone back … to the very last one.”
Netanyahu added, “Rani is a hero of Israel. He went in first, he came out last. He came back.”
Netanyahu’s office said Sunday that, in line with the peace plan, Israel would move to reopen the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt for pedestrian traffic only, subject to what officials described as a full Israeli inspection mechanism. The Rafah crossing has remained largely closed since May 2024, aside from a brief reopening in early 2025.
The next phase of the Trump peace plan calls for Hamas to fully decommission its weapons and either commit to peaceful coexistence or leave the Gaza Strip altogether. During remarks at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, Trump said Hamas had agreed to surrender its weapons within “the next three weeks,” while warning of swift military consequences if the group failed to comply.
“If they don’t do it, they’re going to – they’ll be blown away. Very quickly. They’ll be blown away,” Trump said.
Hamas has stated that it is open to “freezing or storing” its weapons and has indicated it would relinquish governance of Gaza once authority is transferred to a Palestinian technocratic administration.
Earlier this month, Trump announced that Ali Shaath, a Gaza-born former official with the Palestinian Authority, would lead the transitional, nonpolitical government in Gaza. Shaath previously served as a deputy minister of planning and international cooperation and as an undersecretary at the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Transportation and Communications.
With the hostage issue resolved, U.S. and Israeli officials say attention is now shifting to enforcement of the disarmament phase and the political transition outlined in the remaining stages of the peace plan.
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