WhatsappBringing home the last hostage closed a national wound. Israel must now turn that closure into a united resolve to insist on Hamas’s disarmament.
One by one, Israelis removed the yellow ribbon from their jackets on Monday. From streets and squares across the country, the portrait of the last hostage was taken down. Ran Gvili was no longer in the hands of Hamas.
Gvili was a 24-year-old police officer who, at dawn on Oct. 7, 2023, did what Israelis have done too often to count: he ran toward danger. As young people fled the Nova festival, he grabbed his weapon and charged forward. Wounded in the arm, he fought on near Kibbutz Alumim, neutralizing terrorists until his final bullet. His mother, Talik Gvili, can now bury him in the land of Israel.
For 848 days, she refused to be silenced. “I am Ran’s proud mother,” she said again and again—even when nearly all the other hostages, alive or dead, had already been returned. Together with her husband, Itzik, she pressed her demand before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump without retreating an inch.
What followed was rare in Israel’s fractious public life. The government and opposition, the army and civil society, stood together. In a country constantly threatened—especially by Iran—bringing Ran home became a national flag. Israel does not leave anyone behind.
The hostage crisis unleashed fierce political attacks, many aimed at Netanyahu for allegedly preferring war over a deal. Yet something deeper was taking place. The massive protest movement, led largely by parents and driven by the sanctity of family, met—often unknowingly—the government’s determination to fight for loved ones not with fear or paralysis, but with the resolve to see the mission through.
Hamas understood exactly what was at stake. It delayed, obstructed and desecrated, hoping to block the moment when Israeli soldiers would finally bring Ran home. Only Israeli intelligence located him.
Soldiers worked under extreme psychological strain, assisted by doctors and a psychologist, examining hundreds of graves before completing the mission, while ensuring that Gaza residents’ remains were respectfully reburied.
Hamas also understood the larger danger for itself: that the return of the last hostage would expose what must come next. The second phase of any plan is unavoidable—the surrender of weapons.
Israel has recovered something it had lost: unity. That unity must now be converted into policy. The opening of the Rafah crossing with Egypt, with strict conditions and coordination reportedly involving U.S. special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, appears to be a calculated step to strip Hamas of the means to repeat another Oct. 7.
A chapter has closed. Netanyahu has emerged politically strengthened. The relationship with Trump—who played a role in the hostage effort—has been reinforced. But the meaning of Ran Gvili’s return must be written clearly, in blue and white.
The unity forged around the hostages must now be directed toward finishing the task—disarming Hamas—and facing the larger and looming threat of Iran.
Hamas understood exactly what was at stake. It delayed, obstructed and desecrated, hoping to block the moment when Israeli soldiers would finally bring Ran home. Only Israeli intelligence located him.
Soldiers worked under extreme psychological strain, assisted by doctors and a psychologist, examining hundreds of graves before completing the mission, while ensuring that Gaza residents’ remains were respectfully reburied.
Hamas also understood the larger danger for itself: that the return of the last hostage would expose what must come next. The second phase of any plan is unavoidable—the surrender of weapons.
Israel has recovered something it had lost: unity. That unity must now be converted into policy. The opening of the Rafah crossing with Egypt, with strict conditions and coordination reportedly involving U.S. special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, appears to be a calculated step to strip Hamas of the means to repeat another Oct. 7.
A chapter has closed. Netanyahu has emerged politically strengthened. The relationship with Trump—who played a role in the hostage effort—has been reinforced. But the meaning of Ran Gvili’s return must be written clearly, in blue and white.
The unity forged around the hostages must now be directed toward finishing the task—disarming Hamas—and facing the larger and looming threat of Iran.
