After 842 days, Oct. 7 has Finally Ended

With the burial of Yasam (Israel Police Special Patrol Unit) Master-Sgt. Ran Gvili z”l on Jan. 28 in his hometown of Meitar, Israel’s 10.2 million citizens have finally put behind them the trauma of Oct. 7, 2023. For the first time in 4,208 days, not a single Israel Defense Force soldier or civilian is being held hostage in the Gaza Strip. The clock in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv has stopped ticking, and the shocking display of the kidnapped at Ben-Gurion Airport has been removed. Traumatic Stress Disorder can finally become PTSD.

Two years, three months, and 20 days after Gvili, 24, fell in a lopsided battle at Kibbutz Alumim near the Gaza Strip, the hero was finally given a fitting military funeral. Thousands of police officers, IDF soldiers, and residents stood in silence along the streets of the Be’er Sheva suburb as the funeral procession passed.

The service was attended by President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Police Commissioner Daniel Levy and Sephardi Chief Rabbi David Yosef, alongside senior political and security figures. The somber ceremony was the first funeral of a hostage from the Oct. 7 Black Sabbath attended by the PM.

Netanyahu eulogized Gvili: “He considered his injured shoulder meaningless because he believed with all his heart and strength that the security of the state rested on him and the shoulders of his comrades. He saved lives – many, many lives.”

The prime minister also announced that a new town, Renanim, would be established near Meitar in Gvili’s memory.

Addressing the family, President Herzog apologized on behalf of the People of Israel, saying: “I’m sorry we were not there for him. I am sorry that, along with so many other families, you had to wait so many long, agonizing days for the return of your loved one.”

He added: “Without hesitation and without asking, again and again, [Ran] said, ‘Here I am’ and went into the line of fire to protect us.”

Gvili had been at home recovering from a broken shoulder sustained in a motorcycle accident when the attacks began at 6:29 a.m. on Oct. 7. As news began trickling in of kibbutzim and cities near the Gaza frontier being overrun and their residents massacred, Gvili decided to join the battle. Though on medical leave, he never hesitated to reach for his gun and his uniform.

His father, Itzik Gvili, told Ynet news that Ran “just put on a uniform and said to me ‘Abba, I’m going.’ I said to him, ‘Where do you think you’re going?’, and he answered, ‘What do you think? Do you think that my friends will fight alone? I’m going to help them.’ He didn’t ask me. Rani can’t be stopped.”

Driving west toward the carnage at the Nova music festival, Gvili rescued an estimated 100 partygoers fleeing the rave. He then engaged in a battle with dozens of Hamas gunmen near Kibbutz Alumim, killing 14 terrorists before being fatally shot when he ran out of ammunition. At 10:50 that morning, he texted friends that he had been shot in the leg.

For months, Gvili’s family held out hope that he was alive and being held hostage somewhere in the Gaza Strip.

His mother, Tali, told Haaretz in November 2024 that the family had received photos from Oct. 7 showing him arriving unconscious at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, and later seen in Zeitoun on the back of a motorcycle, “but they aren’t conclusive… in this situation, hoping for a miracle feels reasonable.”

According to the Hostages Forum, “Ran had a passion for motorcycles, enjoyed gatherings with friends, cherished moments with his sister and brother, and relished playing the guitar while sipping lemon arak.”

Gvili’s remains were recovered by IDF search teams following a months-long intelligence operation. Under combat conditions in the northern Gaza Strip, some 700 bodies were disinterred at al-Bats Muslim cemetery in Shuja’iya. His remains were discovered by IDF dentists after carrying out the forensic examination of 249 corpses. Many noted “ran” (singing) has a numerical value in gematria of 250.

Gvili was still wearing his blood-soaked uniform – which he was buried in rather than shrouds as is customary for civilians.

The huge logistics operation to find Gvili represents the esprit de corps of the IDF – no fallen soldier is ever left in the field.

Gil Zohar is a journalist and licensed tour guide based in Jerusalem.