FM Sa’ar meets with visiting family of Nepalese hostage Bipin Joshi

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar met today with relatives of Nepalese hostage Bipin Joshi during their first visit to Israel, according to a statement from the minister’s office.

During the meeting – attended by Bipin’s mother, Padma, his sister, Pushpa, and Nepal’s ambassador to Israel, Dhan Prasad Pandit – Sa’ar “expressed Israel’s deep commitment to returning all of the hostages, including those who are not Israeli citizens, such as Bipin Joshi,” the statement reads.

Sa’ar has held several talks with Nepal’s foreign minister to coordinate diplomatic activity regarding Bipin’s captivity, the statement continues, adding that since November 2023, no sign of life has been received from Bipin and there is “serious concern for his life.”

Yesterday, the Joshi family participated in the nationwide strike called by the relatives of hostages in Gaza to demand an end to the war and the release of their loved ones, before meeting with President Isaac Herzog at his residence.

The two relatives arrived for the first time in Israel last week, nearly two years after Joshi, an agriculture student living in the country, was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists from Kibbutz Alumim during the October 7, 2023, massacre.