Seven hundred ninety days after the deadliest massacre in Israel's history, which led to the abduction of hundreds of civilians, Staff Sgt. Ran Gvili is now the last hostage still held in the Gaza Strip.
Gvili, a 24-year-old Yasam volunteer from Meitar, fought with extraordinary courage on October 7. When the massacre began, he left the house, put on his uniform and headed out to fight. During the battle near Alumim he rescued about 100 people who had fled the Nova music festival and killed 14 members of the Hamas terrorist organization before he was abducted.
Went of the shelter, and fought
A panel of experts ruled on January 30 that Gvili was no longer alive. About ten days before the October 7 massacre he had broken his shoulder and was waiting for surgery, yet he still chose to join the battle. On the morning of the attack, as his family entered the shelter, he walked out and returned moments later dressed in uniform.
His father, Itzik, said: "Rani told us he would not let his friends fight alone, and that even with the fracture he could still hold a handgun. I will never forget the look in his eyes. It was as if he was saying, 'This is what I have waited for my entire life.'" Gvili went to the Beersheba police station, joined the forces headed toward Alumim and was shot in the arm and leg during the fighting.
"First to go out, last to return," his mother, Talik Gvili, wrote Thursday on her Facebook page. A few weeks earlier, in an interview with Israel Hayom, his sister Shira described the anguish, uncertainty and determination driving the family. "Each day that passes and Rani does not come back makes us panic more. If he still has not returned, then where is he? Who knows what is happening to him?"
Security officials have told the family that "everything possible is being done to search for him, locate him and not leave him behind," but the family fears the chances are extremely slim. "With all the destruction left there, how can anything be found? It is like a needle in a haystack."
The Hostages and Missing Persons Directorate in the Prime Minister's Office said: "We pray for the swift return home of Staff Sgt. Ran Gvili, the last hostage still held by Hamas."
