Gvili, 24, who served in the “Yasam” special patrol unit in the Negev region, was killed during the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and his body was taken into the Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu’s office stated that the Prime Minister “briefed his parents, Talik and Itzik, on the efforts Israel is making to return him, and on his determination to return him so that he can have a proper funeral.”
In a related context, Netanyahu spoke with the Thai Ambassador to Israel, Pannabha Chandraramya, and briefed him on the latest developments regarding efforts to recover the body of Thai worker Sudthisak Rinthalak, who, along with Gvili, is considered the last two captives whose bodies are still being held in Gaza.
Netanyahu’s office confirmed in a statement that the Prime Minister informed the Thai Ambassador that “the Israeli government, along with the security forces, is making great efforts to return him, and that Israel’s support for the families of Thai prisoners will always continue.”
Rinthalak, 43, worked as a farmer in Kibbutz Be’eri near Gaza and was one of several Thai workers killed in the attack and whose bodies were taken into the Strip.
Under the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which was signed with US mediation and entered into force on October 10, Hamas pledged to return all 48 prisoners who were still being held at the time, including 20 people alive.
So far, the movement has returned 46 prisoners, including the body of a soldier who had been held for more than a decade.
In a related development, the “Hostages and Missing Families Forum” organized a demonstration in Tel Aviv on Saturday, as part of a series of weekly moves aimed at pressuring the Netanyahu government to ensure the return of all detainees. Participants held up signs bearing the pictures of Gvili and Rinthalak, as well as a sign that read: “Day 785… We will leave no one behind.”
