Hostages Forum announces closure, says ‘struggle not over’ while Ran Gvili still in Gaza

The group representing most families of hostages in Gaza announced its own closure Wednesday, with only one of what was once more than 250 captives still held in the enclave.

Under the slogan “Bring Them Home Now,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum become a political force within Israel following October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack and the subsequent Gaza war, staging regular rallies and lobbying the government.

Over the months of the war, US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were among the international figures to meet the association, which sought to bring the fates of the hostages to the forefront.

The group’s weekly protests in Tel Aviv also became something of a focal point for opposition to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hardline government, and the forum itself backed the peace deal pushed by US President Donald Trump.

“Today, December 31, 2025, the Hostages’ Families Forum is ending its activities in its current form,” the statement said.

“The struggle is not over,” it added. “We still have one last hostage in Gaza.”

Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, a member of the Yasam police counter-terror unit, was on medical leave the day of the attack but rushed to join the fighting against Hamas, during which he was killed and his body abducted to the Gaza Strip.

“Our mission will not be complete and our hearts will not heal until Rani is back, to be buried in Israel,” the forum statement said, adding that a special group would continue accompanying Gvili’s family.

Founded in the wake of the October 7 attack, the forum brought together most of the families of the 251 people — Israelis and foreigners, civilians and military — abducted from Israel that day.

Since then, the forum has supported the families, given them a voice in the media, and organized hundreds of gatherings in Tel Aviv and across the country and the world.

“For 817 days, we acted together — thousands of volunteers, professionals and families — for a single sacred goal: to bring all the… hostages home,” the statement said.

Most of the hostages were freed during two previous truces between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist terror movement Hamas.

After the latest ceasefire took effect on October 10, the last 20 surviving captives were handed over to Israel, as were 27 of 28 bodies of deceased hostage remains.

Israel has said it is now awaiting the return of Gvili’s body before beginning talks on the second phase of the peace agreement with Hamas.

Israeli officials cited by Hebrew media outlets have accused Palestinian Islamic Jihad of holding on to Gvili’s remains, and have charged Hamas with failing to pressure the fellow terror group to release the body. Islamic Jihad claimed earlier this month that it had returned all the hostages’ remains in its possession, a statement rejected by Israel.