All Hostages Have Been Returned From the Gaza Strip to Israel

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit announces today, January 26th, 2026  (8th of Shevat, 5786), that all living and deceased hostages have been returned from the Gaza Strip to Israel. 
After 843 days of combat across all fronts, the IDF informed the family of the Yasam soldier, Master Sergeant Ran Gvili Z"L, that their loved one had been identified and returned for burial. As such, the return of all of the live and deceased hostages from the Gaza Strip to the State of Israel has been completed. 

The Hamas terrorist organization held in captivity throughout the years four Israeli citizens, the citizens Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, and IDF soldiers, Lieutenant Hadar Goldin Z"L and Staff Sergeant Oron Shaul Z"L, who fell in battle during Operation “Protective Edge” in 2014. 

On the morning of Simchat Torah, October 7th, 2023, the IDF failed in its primary mission - to protect the citizens of the State of Israel. The terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip infiltrated into Israeli territory and conducted a brutal massacre, in which more than 1,200 people were murdered and took hostage 251 people, including civilians, soldiers, and foreign citizens. Since October 7th, the IDF rose and prevailed, guided by its moral duty to return all the hostages. 

Throughout the entire war, IDF troops operated day and night, on the front lines and deep in enemy territory, while greatly endangering their lives, with unwavering determination and a deep commitment to the sanctity of life, in order to establish the conditions that would allow the return of all the hostages — the living and the deceased as one. The return of all of the hostages from the Gaza Strip to the State of Israel was made possible as a result of the ongoing joint efforts of the entire IDF, headed by the Southern Command, the Hostages and Missing Persons Headquarters, the Intelligence Directorate, the Manpower Directorate, the Operations Directorate, the Technological and Logistics Directorate, alongside the ISA and Israel Police. 

The return of the hostages, including the last deceased hostage, was carried out over two years of intense combat and represents the promise between the IDF and the citizens of the State of Israel - to never leave anyone behind. 

The entire IDF bows its head and remembers the hundreds of civilians murdered, the 924 IDF soldiers who fell in battle and fought with bravery in order to achieve the war’s goals and the moral duty to return the hostages, as well as the security forces personal who risked their lives, the bereaved families who have lost their loved ones, and the 20,000 injured individuals in body and in soul who were wounded for the protection of the State of Israel. 

The IDF has the responsibility and duty to integrate and implement the lessons from October 7th and to move forward toward growth, with a deep sense of commitment to the security of the State of Israel and its citizens, and to promise that the events of October 7th will never repeat themselves.