By Anietie Anii-Bassey
For more than two years, yellow ribbons fluttered from balconies, backpacks and streetlamps across Israel, a daily reminder of the hostages taken during the country’s deadliest day. On Tuesday, many of those ribbons were finally removed, and a digital clock in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square — long counting every hour since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack — was switched off, signaling the end of a chapter that haunted the nation.
The moment followed the return of the remains of Ran Gvili, a 24-year-old police officer who was killed while battling Hamas militants during the assault and whose body had been held in Gaza. His recovery fulfilled a central demand voiced by families and supporters for months: that every hostage, living or dead, be brought home.
Specialized forensic teams had spent days combing a cemetery in northern Gaza, exhuming bodies and carrying out painstaking identification work as part of a coordinated operation involving search units, intelligence officers and forensic dentists.
After Gvili’s remains were confirmed and transferred back to Israel, attention quickly shifted from the hostage issue toward the fragile ceasefire and the uncertain political and humanitarian future of Gaza.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Israel would reopen Gaza’s border crossing with Egypt in Rafah, allowing Palestinians to exit and enter the territory for the first time in nearly two years. He did not provide a date for the reopening, stressing that it would initially be limited to pedestrians and would not allow cargo shipments.
“We will not prevent anyone from leaving,” Netanyahu said, adding that Israel would maintain security oversight at the crossing.
He reiterated that Israel’s broader objectives remain unchanged: dismantling Hamas’ military capabilities and destroying its remaining tunnel network. Reconstruction in Gaza, he said, would not proceed unless the territory was demilitarized.
“As I agreed with President Trump, there are only two possibilities: either it will be done the easy way or it will be done the hard way,” Netanyahu told reporters. “In any case, it will happen.”
He again rejected the participation of Turkish or Qatari forces in any international security mission inside Gaza and restated his opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state, saying Israel would retain permanent security control from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.
In Tel Aviv, thousands gathered in Hostages Square to watch the digital timer freeze at 843 days, 12 hours, 5 minutes and 59 seconds. Some applauded, others wept, and many embraced as the display went dark in a space that had become a rallying point for vigils, protests and prayer.
“It’s like we have been released from this huge rock hanging from our heart,” said Ofra Ophir, a retired nursery schoolteacher from Ra’anana.
For families who lost loved ones, relief mingled with grief. Sharone Lifschitz, whose parents were abducted from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz during the 2023 attack, said the moment was both miraculous and painful. Her mother, Yocheved, was freed after two weeks in captivity, but her father, Oded, died before he could return.
“I don’t feel the hostage saga is over, but the return of the hostages is over,” Lifschitz said. “I’m really grateful we have no more hostages, but all of them could have been back much earlier, all of them could have been saved.”
Israeli security officials offered differing accounts from Gaza’s militant groups about how Gvili’s body was located. A spokesman for the Shin Bet domestic security agency said interrogations of a Palestinian Islamic Jihad member provided critical leads that matched existing intelligence and pointed investigators to the cemetery, adding that the body had been moved multiple times.
A military official said more than 20 forensic dentists worked for over 24 hours, scanning roughly 250 sets of remains before making a positive identification.
Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad disputed that version. Islamic Jihad’s armed wing said it had supplied coordinates through Arab mediators, while Hamas also claimed it provided information. Two American officials familiar with the diplomatic efforts said Egypt, Qatar and Turkey played roles in persuading Hamas to facilitate the return of the body.
Palestinians living near the cemetery said the operation left other exhumed remains exposed. Mohamed Matter, whose relatives are buried there, said graves were opened and bodies left uncovered or only lightly covered with soil. He and others said they tried to approach the area but were blocked by Israeli forces.
Hospital officials at Shifa Hospital reported that two people were killed by an Israeli drone strike while attempting to reach the cemetery. The Israeli military said it was unaware of such strikes and cautioned against relying on unverified accounts. Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassam accused Israeli forces of digging up “hundreds of graves,” calling it a pattern of disrespect toward the dead.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who is scheduled to deliver a eulogy at Gvili’s funeral, said the return of the officer’s remains had “closed the circle” for the country. In Gaza, however, many residents said daily life remained grim.
In the southern city of Khan Younis, families sheltering in tents without adequate heat questioned whether the ceasefire would bring tangible relief. Many expressed frustration that the Rafah crossing had not yet reopened.
“The crossing is supposed to open now after the last soldier’s body was found,” said Ali Abu Al-Eish, a former Rafah resident. “Why is it still closed? We have many sick people here.”
Gaza’s Health Ministry estimates that about 20,000 people need medical evacuation from the enclave.
“Why are Hamas and Israel stalling?” asked Ayda Abu Dheisha. “Let them reach an agreement and resolve this for us. We want to return to our land and our homes.”
Both are among roughly one million Palestinians displaced from Rafah, which remains under Israeli military control.
Netanyahu said Israel would administer the crossing once it opens, emphasizing that screenings would be conducted and numbers limited. “It is for people only,” he said. “Anyone entering or exiting undergoes our inspection.”
The next phase of the ceasefire is widely expected to be the most difficult. Beyond reopening Rafah, talks are meant to address the dismantling of armed groups in Gaza after nearly two decades of Hamas rule, the possible withdrawal of Israeli forces from certain areas, and the return of displaced civilians.
President Trump’s 20-point proposal for ending the conflict, unveiled in October, left many of those details unresolved, including how any new governing arrangement in Gaza would be enforced and when large-scale rebuilding might begin.
Since the ceasefire took effect, Gaza’s Health Ministry says 488 people have been killed. The ministry, run by the Hamas-led administration, keeps casualty records that international agencies and independent analysts have often considered broadly reliable.
For Israelis, the closing of the clock and the recovery of the last hostage’s remains offered a rare moment of collective release. For Palestinians in Gaza, uncertainty still dominates, as the region waits to see whether the fragile calm will hold — and whether the next chapter will bring relief or renewed conflict.
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