Seven hundred and ninety days after the deadliest massacre in Israel’s history, which led to the abduction of hundreds of civilians, Staff Sgt. Ran Gvili is now the last hostage still held in the Gaza Strip.
Gvili, a 24-year-old Israel Police Special Patrol Unit (Yasam) volunteer from Meitar, fought with extraordinary courage on Oct. 7, 2023. When the massacre began, he left his house, put on his uniform and headed out to fight. About 10 days before he had broken his shoulder, and was waiting for surgery, yet he still chose to join the battle.
During the battle near Alumim, he rescued about 100 people who had fled the Nova music festival and killed 14 members of the Hamas terrorist organization before he was abducted.
A panel of experts ruled in January 2024 that Gvili was no longer alive.
On the morning of the attack, as his family entered their shelter, he walked out and returned moments later in uniform.
“Rani told us he would not let his friends fight alone, and that even with the fracture he could still hold a handgun,” said his father Itzik. “I will never forget the look in his eyes. It was as if he was saying, ‘This is what I have waited for my entire life.’”
Gvili headed to the Beersheba police station, joined the forces headed toward Alumim, and was shot in the arm and leg during the fighting.
“First to go out, last to return,” his mother, Talik Gvili, wrote Thursday on her Facebook page. A few weeks earlier, his sister Shira described the family’s anguish, uncertainty and determination. “Each day that passes and Rani does not come back makes us panic more. If he still has not returned, then where is he? Who knows what is happening to him?” she said.
Security officials have said that everything possible is being done to locate him, but the family fears the chances are extremely slim. “With all the destruction left there, how can anything be found? It is like a needle in a haystack,” said Shira.
The Hostages and Missing Persons Directorate in the Prime Minister’s Office said: “We pray for the swift return home of Staff Sgt. Ran Gvili, the last hostage still held by Hamas.”
Originally published by Israel Hayom.
