The mother of slain Israeli hostage Israel Police Master Sgt. Ran Gvili will accompany Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his trip to the United States for his meeting with President Donald Trump on Dec. 29.
Talik Gvili said in a public statement that she would join Netanyahu’s Dec. 28 flight as part of her campaign to secure the return of her son’s body from Gaza.
An Israeli delegation led by Coordinator for Hostages and Missing Persons Brig. Gen. (res.) Gal Hirsch met with senior Egyptian officials and international mediators in Cairo on Wednesday to discuss efforts to recover the remains of Gvili, the last hostage being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
According to Israeli authorities, Gvili, 24, died of wounds suffered battling terrorists at the entrance to Kibbutz Alumim during the Hamas-led terrorist invasion of the northwestern Negev on Oct. 7, 2023. He was posthumously promoted from staff sergeant to master sergeant.
The 20 last living hostages were freed on Oct. 13, and the bodies of deceased hostages have been returned sporadically since that date.
Phase 1 of President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan called for the return of all hostages, living and dead, by Oct. 13. Netanyahu and Trump are expected to discuss next steps in the Gaza ceasefire plan during their meeting at Trump’s Mar‑a‑Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
