Visiting Israel, US envoy to UN meets parents of last hostage in Gaza

Nava Freiberg is The Times of Israel's deputy diplomatic correspondent.

US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz, second from right, meets with the parents of Staff Sgt. Ran Gvili, the last remaining deceased hostage in Gaza, December 8, 2025. (Foreign Ministry)
US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz, second from right, meets with the parents of Staff Sgt. Ran Gvili, the last remaining deceased hostage in Gaza, December 8, 2025. (Foreign Ministry)

US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz met a short time ago with the parents of Staff Sgt. Ran Gvili, the last remaining deceased hostage in Gaza, during the envoy’s visit to Israel this week.

According to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office, Waltz met with Talik and Itzik Gvili in Jerusalem together with Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon and government hostage pointman Gal Hirsch.

Waltz “expressed the United States’ commitment – and his own – to completing the mission of returning the hostages and bringing Rani, of blessed memory, to a burial in Israel,” the statement reads.

The PMO adds that Hirsch updated Waltz on Israel’s efforts to return Gvili’s body.

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