From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, October 15, 2025
Family of Bipin Joshi mourns slain hostage, hails him as hero for deflecting Hamas grenade from shelter on Oct. 7
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleJessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
The family of Bipin Joshi, the Nepalese agricultural student taken hostage by Hamas terrorists on October 7 and killed in captivity in Gaza, expresses grief and sorrow in a statement after his body was brought back to Israel on Tuesday.
“With immense pain, we received the news of the worst of all,” write the Joshis.
“Our dear son, Bipin — brother and soulmate to our daughter Pushpa — was murdered in Hamas captivity. The ground was pulled out from under our feet. It is hard to put into words the void left without him, a void that opened two years ago and has deepened into an immense abyss. Bipin left us full of excitement, setting out for a year of study in Israel. We never imagined that the hug we gave him then would be our last.”
The Joshis thank US President Donald Trump and the US, Israeli and Nepalese governments, along with the people of Israel and IDF soldiers, for fighting for their son and brother, and helping bring him home and “close the circle.”
The family was in the US last week and published a video filmed in Hamas tunnels about a month after October 7, in which Joshi could be seen speaking to the camera.
“Today we can say it loud and clear: Bipin, you are a hero!” writes the family.
The statement describes the Hamas grenade he pushed away from the entrance of the shelter in Kibbutz Alumim, where he and other agricultural workers were hiding on October 7, before he was abducted. He had arrived at the kibbutz about a month earlier.
“We were so afraid that they would know you were a hero, that they would harm you — we only prayed you would survive,” they write. “Before you were taken, you managed to send a message to your cousin, asking him to be strong and always look toward the future. It is hard to imagine a future without you, Bipin. Every flower in the garden we planted for you will remind us of you — every orchard, every field. You are part of the landscape of Nepal, and now also part of the landscape of the Land of Israel.”
The Times of Israel Community.