Michael Hernandez
26 January 2026•Update: 26 January 2026
WASHINGTON
US President Donald Trump lauded on Monday the return of the remains of the final Israeli hostage from the besieged Gaza Strip, congratulating his officials for facilitating the release.
"Just recovered the last hostage body in Gaza. Thus, got back all 20 of the living hostages, and all of the dead! Amazing job! Most thought of it as an impossible thing to do. Congratulations to my great team of champions!!!" Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
The Israeli military announced earlier Monday that it had located and recovered the body of its last captive in the Gaza Strip. A military statement said that the body of Sgt. 1st Class Ran Gvili was identified and would be returned for burial.
“With this, all hostages have been returned from the Gaza Strip,” it added.
The announcement came a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel will reopen the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt after the return of Gvili’s body.
Trump said in an interview with Axios news website that Hamas helped locate Gvili's body, calling on the Palestinian group to now disarm in line with his ceasefire plan.
"They worked very hard to get the body back. They were working with Israel on it. You can imagine how hard it was," Trump said. "Now we have to disarm Hamas like they promised."
