WASHINGTON — President Trump said Monday that Hamas “worked very hard” to locate the body of its final Israeli hostage — as US officials expressed optimism that the terrorist group will disarm pursuant to a Trump-brokered peace plan.
“They worked very hard to get the body back. They worked on it with Israel. You can only imagine how difficult it was,” Trump told Israeli news outlet N12.
Police officer Ran Gvili’s body was identified after a “large-scale operation” in a cemetery in northern Gaza over the weekend, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
The operation involved exhuming and testing about 250 bodies after Hamas revealed that he may have been buried there.
Police Officer Ran Gvili’s body was located and identified after a “large-scale operation” in Gaza. Courtesy Gvili family
Itzik Gvili, the father of slain Sgt. Ran Gvili, touches his son’s casket during a brief ceremony at the IDF Nahal Oz base Monday. X/standwithus
“Ran is a hero of Israel. He went in first, he came out last. He came back,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, adding that finding his body was an “extraordinary achievement for Israel.
“I promised we would bring everyone home, and we have brought everyone home,” he said.
The 24-year-old Gvili, who was a member of the Israeli Police Special Forces, fatally “fell in combat” at Kibbutz Alumim on the morning of the Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks that triggered two years of war.
Israeli teams combed through the cemetery in search of Gvili’s remains after Hamas claimed it had done all that was required of it under the first phase of the cease-fire that took effect in October.
The 24-year-old Gvili, who was a member of the Israeli Police Special Forces, “fell in combat” at Kibbutz Alumim on the morning of the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks that triggered the now more than two-year war. Facebook/Rani GviliThe officer’s body, which was identified by dental and fingerprint records, was being returned to the Jewish state for burial.
Defense Minister Israel Katz called the recovery a “painful moment of closure.
“The return of Ran for burial is a painful moment of closing the circle — with the return of the last hostage from the Gaza Strip territory to the soil of Israel,” Katz said in a statement.
Gvili’s body, which was identified by dental and fingerprint records, was being returned to the Jewish state for burial, officials said. via REUTERS“It is a moment that underscores the State of Israel’s commitment to its soldiers and citizens: to bring every single one home, as we promised the families and the Israeli public.”
Gvili was among the first of the 251 hostages to be taken into Gaza.
Before his remains were recovered, 20 living hostages and the remains of 27 others had already been returned to Israel.
“There are officially no more hostages in captivity in Gaza,” the IDF declared in a statement on X.
Shira Gvili goofs around with her brother Ran in an undated photo. Shira GviliThe return of all remaining hostages — living or dead — had been a key part of the US-brokered deal’s initial phase.
‘Very good program to disarm’
The White House forged forward this month with the second phase of Trump’s peace plan — despite the outstanding body — by announcing appointees to a “technocratic” interim government and to the supervisory Trump-chaired Board of Peace.
US officials said on a press call Monday that they are optimistic that Hamas will disarm — despite the group publicly insisting otherwise.
“We think disarmament comes along with some sort of amnesty. And candidly, we have a very, very good program to disarm,” one American official said.
Israelis light the eighth candle of Hannukkah in Hostage Square, holding placards bearing the face of Gvili, in Tel Aviv. AFP via Getty Images“People representing us are in contact with [Hamas], and we expect it to happen.”
A different US official said that Hamas relinquishing physical control of the Gaza Strip was essential to plans unveiled last week by Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner to rebuild Gaza into a skyscraper-dotted metropolis resembling Dubai.
“Nobody wants to put aid money or investment money into a place where there’s likely there’ll be a future war and then it will all be destroyed again,” the second official said.
Netanyahu on Monday reiterated Israel’s demand for the group’s full disarmament.
Gvili’s family had urged Israel’s government not to enter the second phase of the peace process until his body had been recovered and returned.
Israel had repeatedly accused Hamas of dragging its feet in the recovery of the final hostage.
Hamas, for its part, claimed it had provided all the information it had about Gvili’s remains — accusing Israel of obstructing efforts to search for them in areas of Gaza under Israeli military control.
“The discovery of the body of the last Israeli captive in Gaza confirms Hamas’s commitment to all the requirements of the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, including the prisoner exchange,” Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said in a statement.
“We call on the mediators and the United States to compel the ‘occupation’ to stop violating the agreement and to implement its required obligations.”
With Post wires
