In a poignant and deeply moving release, the Israel Defense Forces shared new footage that captures the moment a fallen soldier’s body was officially identified in Gaza. This unsettling video, which surfaced on Tuesday evening, reveals the intense emotional journey as doctors and IDF soldiers worked together meticulously to verify the identity of their comrade.

The footage shows medical professionals and military personnel conducting a thorough examination of the body, diligently cross-referencing it with existing identification data. The somber task, once concluded, brought the soldiers to tears, an overwhelming testament to the weight of their loss.

Identified on Monday, the body of Yasam fighter Ran Gvili was subsequently brought back to Israeli territory. A solemn farewell ceremony was organized by the police, where Gvili’s father joined others in mourning his departure.

During the ceremony, Police Commissioner Danny Levy delivered a heartfelt tribute to the fallen officer. Reflecting on Gvili’s sacrifice, Levy stated, “This is a tremendous honor to stand before Rani’s body and say to him, to his family, and to all police officers that the State of Israel was in grave danger on October 7. People like Rani went out, fought, and gave their lives for the state, serving as its protective wall.”

Staff Sergeant Ran Gvili hailed from Meitar and served as a Yasam Negev fighter within the Southern District of the Israel Police. His dedication and ultimate sacrifice are remembered with profound respect and gratitude.

Staff Sergeant Gvili, from Meitar, served as a Yasam Negev fighter in the Southern District of the Israel Police.

On the morning of the October 7, 2023 attacks, Gvili, 24, had been at home recovering from a motorcycle accident and was suffering from a fractured shoulder. 

Despite his injuries, he immediately donned his uniform after learning of the terrorist infiltration and rushed out to join his fellow unit members in battle.

The IDF have released harrowing new footage showing the emotional moment the body of their fallen comrade was formally identified in Gaza

The video, published on Tuesday evening, shows doctors and medical teams working alongside IDF soldiers as they carefully examined the body, cross-checking details alongside the identification data they held

When the process was complete, the soldiers were seen breaking down in tears, overwhelmed by the gravity of the moment

Israel announced on Monday that the body of the last hostage held in Gaza, Ran Gvili, had been identified and returned

On his way, he encountered terrorists and fought with courage and determination on the front line at the entrance to Kibbutz Alumim, where he was later killed. 

Members of the kibbutz community would come to remember him by a name that captured his final stand – ‘Ran, the Defender of Alumim’.

Gvili is survived by his parents, Talik and Itzik, his brother Omri, his sister Shira, and a wider extended family.

With Monday’s announcement of the return of Gvili’s remains, none of the 251 hostages abducted more than two years ago during Hamas’s attack remain in the Gaza Strip.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel had successfully ‘brought them all back’. Hamas, meanwhile, insisted the discovery confirmed the group’s ‘commitment to all the requirements of the ceasefire agreement on the Gaza Strip’.

A motorcycle enthusiast and non-commissioned officer in the elite Yassam unit of the Israeli police in the Negev desert region, Gvili was on medical leave and living with his parents in the town of Meitar ahead of a shoulder surgery, according to his family.

It was then that he heard of the attack.

Gvili drove towards the onslaught and joined his unit to fight the attackers – his team was highly outnumbered as they faced about 40 Hamas fighters.

‘We were both wounded,’ recalled Colonel Guy Madar, who was fighting alongside Gvili outside Alumim – the site of fierce fighting.

Madar was the last person to see Gvili alive before they got separated.

It took several months before Israeli authorities informed his parents in January 2024 that the young officer had been killed on that day and that his body had been taken to Gaza.

‘He ran to help, to save people… even though he was already injured before October 7,’ his father told AFP in December, referring to Gvili’s shoulder injury.

‘But that was Rani – always running forward, the first to help and the first to jump in.’

‘He fought until the last bullet and then he was taken hostage,’ added Talik Gvili, his mother.

A man of skills, Gvili had been using his medical leave to carry out renovation work at the family home.

Israeli forces brought home early on January 27 the remains of Ran Gvili, the last hostage held in Gaza, finally closing the chapter on a painful saga that has haunted Israeli society since Hamas’s 2023 attacks when militants took 251 hostages to Gaza

People attend a ceremony to stop the clock that has counted the days, minutes, and seconds since Israeli hostages were abducted to the Gaza Strip during the October 7, 2023 attacks by Palestinian militants

His father recalled seeing him working outside the house with a Palestinian labourer from Gaza just days before the Hamas attack.

‘In a way, it fits him, to be the one to stay behind,’ Talik Gvili, a lawyer, has repeatedly said at events held across the country calling for her son’s return before the implementation of phase two of the US-backed truce plan for Gaza.

His family has steadfastly opposed the opening of the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza until his remains are returned.

Emmanuel Ohayon, a close friend of Gvili, described him as ‘a man of great physical presence, but also gentle and kind’.

‘When he entered a room, you felt his presence, not because of his size, but because he knew how to be there for everyone,’ Ohayon said Saturday evening at a weekly gathering in Meitar.

Israel has resisted moving forward with the second phase of Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza – including reopening the Rafah Crossing between the Strip and Egypt – before Gvili’s body had been returned.

Hamas had insisted that it did not know the exact location of his remains despite attempts to search.

Over the weekend, the Israel Defence Forces confirmed it was searching for the remains of Gvili, based on intelligence that his body was buried at a Muslim cemetery in eastern Gaza City, near the neighborhoods of Shejaiya, Daraj, and Tuffah.

‘Following the identification process conducted by the National Forensic Centre, in cooperation with the Israeli police and the military rabbinate, representatives of the (Israeli military) informed the family of hostage Ran Gvili… that their loved one had been formally identified and repatriated for burial,’ an army statement said on Monday.

‘Thus, all the hostages held in the Gaza Strip have been repatriated,’ it added.

US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met on Saturday with Netanyahu during their trip to Israel.

The American officials have been pressing Jerusalem to move forward with the next steps of the peace deal.

A photograph shows chairs with a portrait of Ran Gvili, the last hostage held in Gaza, the day after his remains were brought home by Israeli forces, in Hostage Square in Tel Aviv on January 27, 2026

The head of a transitional Palestinian committee backed by the US to temporarily administer the Strip, Ali Shaath, said on Thursday that the Rafah Border Crossing between Gaza and Egypt would open this week.

The crossing is effectively the sole route in or out of Gaza for nearly all of the more than two million civilians who live there.

In response, an Israeli official said that the issue would be discussed in a security cabinet meeting at the beginning of this week, according to the Times of Israel.

Board of Deputies President Phil Rosenberg reacted to the discovery of the body of the final hostage held in Gaza, saying: ‘After 843 days of pain, we are moved and relieved at the news that Israel has located and identified the body of Ran Gvili.’

He continued: ‘Never again must Israel face an onslaught of the sort it faced on 7 October. And as we move to phase two of the ceasefire we need to see the disarmament and removal of Hamas from Gaza.

‘With terror excised from the enclave, there is no reason why Gaza cannot become a place of peace and prosperity.

‘It is time for us to seize this moment of opportunity and redouble our efforts towards lasting peace and security for Israelis, Palestinians and the wider Middle East.’