Hundreds of people attended a Shabbat service in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square Friday afternoon, calling for the release of the last remaining hostage body, that of slain police officer Ran Gvili.
The Gvili family and supporters repeated their message that there should be no move into phase two of the US Gaza plan while Ran’s body remains in the enclave, days after Washington announced its intention to proceed to the next phase.
“Everyone tells us that we are a strong family, but without all of your strength we would be nothing,” father Itzik Gvili told those present at the event, organized by the Kibbutz Movement and Kibbutz Eyal.
“All the people who are here, on the right and on the left, all of us together, the entire country together — all for Rani,” he said. “That’s so him. His dream was to see us loving one another, and we love everyone. Wherever we go, it’s one big family. Everything you do for us is not taken for granted.”
Gvili, a member of the Yasam police unit, was killed battling terrorists at Kibbutz Alumim on October 7, 2023, and his body was abducted to Gaza, where it is still being held.
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At the event, former hostage Agam Berger performed the song “Habayta” (Homeward) on the violin, her first performance at Hostages Square since her February 2025 release.
Relatives, friends and supporters of Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, whose body remains in Gaza, attend a Shabbat service at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, calling for his return, on January 16, 2026 (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
“I am here to fulfill the promise to bring Ran home — to his home, to his country, to his homeland, to his family, to us,” she said. “Just now I am marking a year since you brought me home, but we will not truly be home until Ran returns. We pray for his return, and this melody is dedicated to bringing him back.”
Rallies were also held in Meitar, the Gvili family’s home community, and at the Kshatot Junction in the south, attended by members of the Gvili family; Merav Leshem Gonen, mother of former hostage Romi Gonen; and bereaved families who lost loved ones on October 7 and in captivity.
Other support demonstrations and vigils will take place throughout the weekend at numerous locations across the country.
US special envoy Steve Witkoff announced Wednesday the launch of phase two of President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for ending the war in Gaza, including the establishment of a new technocratic Palestinian administration for the Strip. The US has said it is working for the return of Gvili’s body, but will not hold up phase two for that purpose, though all hostages were supposed to have been returned under phase one of the agreement.
Itzik Gvili calling for the return of his son, Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, whose body remains in Gaza, at a Shabbat service at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, on January 16, 2026 (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
“The US expects Hamas to comply fully with its obligations, including the immediate return of the final deceased hostage. Failure to do so will bring serious consequences,” Witkoff said.
A senior US official added that a “very good channel of communication” is operating to find Gvili’s body and that there are several potential sites where his remains may be located.
“We will not consider this mission completed until the last body is found. With that being said, we are not going to hold up going to phase two for that because both parties have agreed to continue working in good faith,” the US official said in a briefing with reporters, confirming The Times of Israel’s reporting from last week.
Relatives, friends and supporters of Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, whose body remains in Gaza, attend a Shabbat service at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, calling for the return of his body, on January 16, 2026 (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Gvili’s parents after Witkoff made the announcement. According to his office, he told them that Gvili’s return “is at the top of Israel’s priorities, and that the declarative move to establish a committee of technocrats [to manage Gaza] will not affect in any way the efforts to bring Ran back for burial in Israel.”
Netanyahu also said Israel was insisting that information on Gvili’s whereabouts provided by the mediators “be immediately translated into effective actions on the ground.”
“Hamas is required to comply with the terms of the agreement and make a 100% effort to return all fallen hostages, until the very last one — Ran Gvili, a hero of Israel,” Netanyahu’s office said.
Israel had pushed back on transitioning to phase two before Hamas had given up its weapons and returned the body of Gvili. Top US officials told Netanyahu during his Mar-a-Lago meetings last month that Washington is committed to those two goals, but doesn’t want to condition the commencement of phase two on either, a US official and two sources familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel last week.
Gvili’s mother, Talik, said in a statement that the declaration will not impact her campaign for her son but emphasized her opposition to the implementation of phase two until he is returned.
“Moving to phase two at this moment, while the efforts to return Ran have yet to be exhausted, is a loss of the most significant leverage and may be a sentence of eternal disappearance for Ran,” she said. “Until Ran is returned, the State of Israel will not be able to close its most bloody wound and will not be able to begin the rehabilitation and healing that it so desperately needs. Phase two must not be implemented as long as Ran has not returned home.”
Jacob Magid, Noam Lehman and Lazar Berman contributed to this report.
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