Updated January 26, 2026 at 1:25 PM CST
Israel said Monday it identified the body of the final Israeli hostage in Gaza and returned it to Israel, paving the way for the long-awaited next steps in President Trump's peace plan.
The military said in a statement that Ran Gvili, 24, a special forces policeman, was killed while fighting militants during the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. His body was taken to Gaza by members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a smaller militant group than Hamas that joined in the attacks.
The military said it launched a "large-scale operation" for his body over the weekend in a cemetery in northern Gaza, acting based on intelligence. The process required exhuming the bodies of deceased Palestinians until the team, including dental experts, identified Gvili's remains. The military told NPR the Palestinian bodies were reburied.
Hamas-led fighters captured 251 hostages in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, according to Israeli authorities.
"We have brought back Rani Gvili, of blessed memory, a hero of Israel. There are no more hostages in Gaza," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the country's parliament Monday.
He and other Israeli leaders removed a yellow ribbon pin they've been wearing throughout the war that represented the hostages in Gaza. "We all wore the pin, and now that the mission has been completed, it is time to remove it," Netanyahu said.
The return of Gvili's remains is expected to mark the end of the first phase of the U.S.-backed ceasefire in the war in Gaza.
It could also pave the way for another big step. The Israeli government said it would allow Gaza's border crossing with Egypt to reopen again for Palestinians to enter and exit. It would mark the first time for that border to partially open since May 2024, when Israeli forces took over southern Gaza and the area of Rafah.
The Rafah border will not be opened by Israel to allow aid to directly enter from Egypt. People who enter and exit through that border will be permitted only by Israel after a vetting of names. International journalists are still barred from freely entering Gaza.
Future steps of the ceasefire agreement include Hamas disarming and Israel withdrawing from Gaza — contentious points over which negotiations have not yet begun.
Senior Hamas negotiator Basem Naim told NPR last month that Hamas would be willing to lay down its weapons on certain conditions including guarantees that Israel would not attack and of a political path to create a Palestinian state.
Speaking Monday to Israel's legislature, Netanyahu insisted the next stage of the peace plan "is not reconstruction — the next stage is disarming Hamas and demilitarizing Gaza."
Most people in Gaza are suffering through another rainy winter without adequate shelter and say they desperately need reconstruction to begin, and more aid like tents. Several babies have died from the cold in past weeks, according to hospitals there.
President Trump's plan also says an "international stabilization force" of troops from various countries will deploy to Gaza, retrained Palestinian police would take over security and a Palestinian technocratic committee would take over governance from Hamas.
Trump celebrated the return of the final Israeli hostage on his social media platform. The president's son-in-law Jared Kushner also welcomed the news, saying he, Trump and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff had worked with the CIA, the Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza to make this possible.
"For the first time since 2014 there are no Israeli hostages held in Gaza," Kushner wrote on X.
Palestinian activists, meanwhile, have accused Israel of continuing to hold the bodies of hundreds of dead Palestinians, including children.
Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said Hamas had provided information to help locate the body. He said it showed confirmed Hamas' commitment to the ceasefire's requirements, and now the U.S. should press Israel to uphold the ceasefire agreement.
Qassem also called for the Rafah crossing to be opened for aid to flow into Gaza, including medicine and mobile housing equipment.
Gaza's Civil Defense rescue services said thousands of bodies of Palestinian civilians remain under the rubble of buildings bombed by Israel in more than two years of war, saying their retrieval has been impossible due to the lack of heavy equipment. They called for heavy equipment to retrieve the dead and reconstruction materials to be brought through the Rafah crossing.
Aya Batrawy reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Daniel Estrin and Itay Stern contributed reporting from Tel Aviv, Israel. Ahmed Abuhamda contributed from Cairo.
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