‘All Israeli people are with us’, say parents of last dead hostage in Gaza

The parents of the last dead hostage in Gaza have spoken to the BBC about their desperate wait for his body to be returned.

Itzik and Talik Gavili insisted that a peace agreement in Gaza could only advance after Hamas handed over the remains of their son Ran, a 24-year-old Israeli police officer also known as Rani.

“We really hope that all the people in the world… want to end this situation and move to the second phase, so Hamas must bring Rani home,” his mother, Talik, said after Israel confirmed the return of the body of Thai citizen Suthisak Rintalak on Wednesday.

He and Ran were among 251 people taken hostage in the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, in which another 1,200 people were killed.

Ran was killed while fighting Hamas militants on Kibbutz Alumim, and his body was later taken to Gaza as a hostage, according to the Israeli military.

His parents said he was on medical leave with a broken shoulder at the time of the attacks but went to fight after seeing what was happening on television.

His father, Itzik, said: “He could not stay home even though he was injured. He took my car and his uniform… and went to help fight against the terrorists.”

“He saved Kibbutz Alumim… and he saved Israel, so Israel must save him now and return him to his homeland,” he added.

While Israeli officials have informed the couple that Ran has been killed, they say they still hold out a “small sliver of hope” that “he may be alive, that he may be alive.”

“We want closure,” Talic said.

Speaking during a visit to London, Ran’s parents described their pain over the past 26 months, much of which they spent campaigning for the return of all hostages, living and dead.

Within the first stage A US-brokered ceasefire agreementwhich took effect on October 10, Hamas agreed to return the last 20 living Israeli hostages and the bodies of the 28 Israeli and foreign hostages still in Gaza within 72 hours.

all The living hostages were released on October 13 For 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,718 detainees from Gaza, but it took weeks for the bodies of dead hostages to be returned, and the bodies of hostages were often returned only once at a time.

“When Hamas brings a hostage home, we don’t know who it is, maybe it’s Rani, maybe it’s someone else… It’s like a game of roulette. You can’t imagine the fear and the hope and everything. Sometimes it’s not a hostage” at all, Talic said, referring to several sets of turned-over remains that turned out to be those of dead Palestinians.

“My wish is that no mother feels what I feel in the whole world. We are strong people, but what is inside us is something you cannot imagine… They stole my child and I cannot do anything – I just pray, visit people and ask for help.”

Talic said she has not had a full night’s sleep since October 7, 2023.

“You feel like you have 5,000 kilograms on your chest,” she said. “We don’t have night. We don’t have day. We don’t have anything.”

While they are now the only people in Israel waiting for their loved ones to return from Gaza, they said support around them has increased.

“All the families are with us and all the Israeli people are with us [the support] Bigger than before because all the Israeli people are now focused on one thing – bringing Ran home and then doing the second stage [of the peace deal]“Talek said.

The couple said that after Ran’s return, they hope to achieve lasting peace and dismantle Hamas.

“We are very proud of Ran. He is a hero in Israel. Hamas made Ran a hero… We want him to come back and try to sleep well and breathe well again.”

Earlier Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Ran as a “hero of Israel,” saying he “eliminated 14 terrorists and did so with the utmost courage” before being killed in battle.

“We are determined to bring Ran back for a proper Jewish burial and we will spare no effort to do so,” he pledged.

Israel responded to the October 7, 2023 attack by launching a military campaign in Gaza, during which more than 70,120 people were killed, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in the Strip.