Credit: Israel Police
The body of the only hostage whose return by Hamas remains pending is that of Ran Gvili, a luso-Israeli and Israeli police sergeant born in 1999. The handover is part of the Middle East Peace Plan, signed in October this year, which mandated the release of all living hostages and the repatriation of the remains of 28 victims.
Earlier this week, Hamas returned to Israel the penultimate body, identified as that of Sudthisak Rinthalak, a 43-year-old Thai national who had been working in Israel. With this handover, 27 of the 28 bodies stipulated in the agreement have now been returned.
On 7 October 2023, Gvili was recovering from a motorcycle accident and awaiting another surgery when he was alerted to the Hamas incursion from Gaza. He drove towards the Nova Festival, where he helped rescue dozens of people fleeing the attack. He was killed in an exchange of fire with Hamas militants, who took his body into Gaza.
Document signed by the Spanish Consulate in Egypt, which recognizes Ran Gvili’s great-grandparents as “protected Spaniards” (1938)
"Regarding the last mortal remains that Hamas has to return – those of Sergeant Ran Gvili of blessed memory – I would like to say that he also held Portuguese nationality and that he was not the first member of his family to appeal to Sepharad (Portugal and Spain). His maternal great-grandparents, Eduardo Nada and Esther Nada, were registered as "protected Spaniards" at the Spanish Consulate in Alexandria in 1938. This reflects the broader history of the Jewish people", declares Gabriel Senderowicz, president of the Jewish Community of Oporto.
