“This was a very complex mission - not only operationally, but also mentally and physically,” Maj. E (res), an IDF company commander in the Alexandroni Infantry Brigade, told The Jerusalem Post on Monday after Israeli forces recovered the remains of St.-Sgt.-Maj. Ran Gvili from northern Gaza.
Gvili was killed in battle fighting infiltrating Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, after saving the lives of partygoers fleeing the Nova music festival in Re’im and defending Kibbutz Alumim from Hamas terrorists.
His return marks the end of the saga of returning all live and deceased hostages taken by Hamas on October 7.
The IDF found the remains of the last Israeli hostage on Monday at around 2:00 p.m. at al-Batesh cemetery in the Shejaia-Daraj-Tuffah part of northern Gaza.
The Shin Bet (Israeli Security Agency) said this information came from capturing a specific Islamic Jihad terrorist who knew where Gvili’s remains were. Maj. E did not share any details regarding IDF intelligence, and did not address the Shin Bet statement.
“As an officer in the field, I receive missions, and I carry them out. I am happy that the intelligence that we received was consistent with the reality, and that we were able to recover Ran Gvili, that he really was in the place where they told us to search.”
No aid from Hamas in the field, IDF confirms
Maj. E clarified there was no real-time intelligence or aid from Hamas operatives in the field, via mediators or otherwise, during the operation. He and his colleagues relied solely on information relayed from Israeli security sources.
“When we were in the area, there was actually a lot of enemy around us, trying to interrupt us. And we had to ‘deal with them,’ so to speak, so that they wouldn’t reach the secure area we established at the cemetery.”
The IDF checked around 250 Palestinian bodies in the cemetery before finding Gvili. Over 20 dentists worked for the last 24 hours to quickly identify the teeth of the 250 exhumed bodies.
Even after two years of fighting in Gaza and several hostage bodies recovered by the IDF in Gaza, Maj. E told the Post that this kind of operation never gets easier.
“Even for those soldiers whose job it is to locate bodies, you can’t get used to something like that,” he said. “Something on the scale of the recent operation - no reasonable person can get used to it.”
Handling this operation professionally and sensitively required an immense level of mental fortitude from every person involved, Maj. E said, adding that he and his soldiers kept their goal of returning Ran Gvili to his homeland at the forefront of their minds at all times.
“What kept us going was the understanding that we’re here until Ran returns. Until we find him. No matter how long it takes, no matter how hard it is.
“That’s what… I reminded my soldiers all the time. Morning, evening, night. What it means, why we are doing this, and the belief in the justice of our mission. That we have a goal, and it’s the most righteous goal in the world.”
Yonah Jeremy Bob, James Genn, and Leo Feierberg Better contributed to this report.