The parents of the last dead hostage in Gaza have spoken to the BBC about their desperate wait for his body to be returned.
Itzik and Talik Gvili insisted the Gaza peace deal could not progress until Hamas handed over the remains of their son Ran, a 24-year-old Israeli police officer also known as Rani.
“We really hope that all people in the world… want to end this situation and go to the second phase, so Hamas must bring Rani home,” his mother Talik said, after Israel confirmed the body of Thai national Suthisak Rintalak had been returned on Wednesday.
He and Ran were among 251 people taken hostage in the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, when another 1,200 people were killed.
Ran was killed while fighting Hamas gunmen in Kibbutz Alumim, and his body was subsequently taken to Gaza as a hostage, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
His parents said he was on medical leave with a broken shoulder at the time of the attacks but went to fight after seeing on television what was happening.
“He couldn’t stay at home even though he was injured. He took my car and his uniform… and went to help in the fight against the terrorists,” said his father Itzik.
“He saved Kibbutz Alumim… and he saved Israel, so Israel has to save him now and bring him back home,” he added.
While the couple have been told by Israeli officials that Ran was killed, they say they are still holding onto “a little percent” of hope “that maybe he’s alive, maybe he’s survived”.
“We want closure,” said Talik.
Speaking during a visit to London, Ran’s parents described their pain over the past 26 months, much of which they have spent campaigning for the return of all the living and dead hostages.
Under the first phase of a US-brokered ceasefire deal, which took effect on 10 October, Hamas agreed to return the final 20 living Israeli hostages and the bodies of the 28 dead Israeli and foreign hostages still in Gaza within 72 hours.
All the living hostages were released on 13 October in exchange for 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,718 detainees from Gaza, but it has taken weeks for the bodies of the dead hostages to be returned, often only one at a time.
“When Hamas bring one of the hostages home we don’t know who it is, maybe it’s Rani, maybe it’s someone else… It’s like roulette. You cannot imagine the fright and the hope and everything. Sometimes it’s not a hostage” at all, said Talik, referring to several sets of remains handed over that have turned out to belong to dead Palestinians.
“My wish is that no mother will feel what I feel in the whole world. We are strong people, but what is inside, you cannot imagine… They stole my child and I can do nothing – just pray and come to visit people and beg for help.”
Talik said she had not slept for a full night since 7 October 2023.
“You feel that you have 5,000 kilos on your chest. We don’t have night. We don’t have day. We have nothing,” she said.
While they are now the only people in Israel waiting for a loved one to be returned from Gaza, they said the support around them has grown.
“All the families are together with us and all Israeli people are with us. It [the support] is bigger than before because all Israeli people are now focused on one thing – bring Ran home and then do the second phase [of the peace deal],” said Talik.
The couple said that after Ran’s return, they hoped for lasting peace and for Hamas to be dismantled.
“We are very proud of Ran. He’s a hero in Israel. Hamas made Ran a hero… We want him back and to try to sleep well and breathe well again.”
Earlier on Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also described Ran as a “hero of Israel”, saying he had “eliminated 14 terrorists and did so with the utmost bravery” before being killed in battle.
“We are determined to bring Ran back for a proper Jewish burial and we will spare no effort to do so,” he vowed.
Israel responded to the 7 October 2023 attack by launching a military campaign in Gaza, during which more than 70,120 people have been killed, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
www.bbc.com
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