Israel marks return of final hostage’s remains after 2 years

Jerusalem: For more than two years, Israelis wore yellow ribbons to remember the hostages abducted during the deadliest day in the country’s history. On Tuesday, they finally could remove those ribbons and shut down a haunting clock in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, marking the end of a painful chapter.

The return of Ran Gvili, a 24-year-old police officer killed while fighting Hamas militants during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, fulfilled nationwide hopes to return all the hostages, living or dead.

Forensic teams combed a cemetery in northern Gaza, working to locate, exhume and identify Gvili’s remains as part of a broad effort involving search crews, intelligence officers and forensic dentists.

Now, with Gvili’s remains back in Israel, attention has turned toward what comes next in Gaza.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Israel will reopen Gaza’s border crossing with Egypt in both directions, allowing Palestinians to enter and leave the territory after nearly two years of closure.

Netanyahu did not say when the crossing in Gaza’s southernmost city, Rafah, would open, but did say it would be limited to foot traffic and not be used for cargo, adding Israel won’t “prevent anyone from leaving.”

Netanyahu said his focus was now on disarming Hamas and destroying its remaining tunnels, saying there would be no reconstruction in Gaza without demilitarisation.

“As I agreed with President Trump, there are only two possibilities: either it will be done the easy way, or it will be done the hard way,” he said at a news conference. “In any case, it will happen.“

Netanyahu reiterated his stance that Turkish and Qatari soldiers will not be allowed to participate in an international security force in Gaza and his opposition to a Palestinian state.