Ran Gvili’s family meets Trump and PM, demands body’s return before phase 2 of Gaza truce

The family of the last remaining hostage held in Gaza, slain police Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, met with US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Florida on Monday, demanding that his remains be brought home before the second stage of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal is implemented.

Ran’s parents, Itzik and Talik, and siblings Omri, Sharon, and Shira took part in the meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach.

“We received an attentive ear and a willing heart from both leaders,” the family said in a statement, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

“We asked President Trump that just as he returned all the hostages, we also want our Rani home. We begged him to use all the levers of pressure on Hamas. It is impossible to move to phase two without Hamas playing its full part,” the statement read.

“Time does not heal my broken heart; it only diminishes the chances of bringing Rani home. Every diplomatic meeting, and certainly a meeting with the leader of the world’s greatest power, must end with only one result — practical and direct progress toward completing the deal and bringing Rani home,” added Gvili’s mother, Talik.

Itzik Gvili, Ran’s father, said that “the responsibility lies with the leadership — we welcome every international effort and the personal involvement of President Trump, Netanyahu, and senior White House officials.”

“But victory will only be achieved with the return of all the hostages home. The people of Israel will not agree to leave Rani behind,” he added.

Under a ceasefire deal signed in October, Hamas released the 20 remaining living hostages in its possession, and was obligated to also return the remains of the 28 deceased captives it held at the time within 72 hours.

The release of the hostages’ remains was delayed, with Hamas claiming that it needed more time and special equipment to recover many of the bodies — although it was also caught staging the recovery of partial remains belonging to a slain captive that the IDF had already recovered in 2023.

To date, Hamas has handed over 27 of the 28 hostages’ bodies, with the last few returned to Israel being those held by fellow terror group Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Israeli officials cited by Hebrew media outlets have accused Islamic Jihad of holding on to Gvili’s remains, and have charged Hamas with failing to pressure the 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.

Gvili’s family have vowed not to give up their battle for his return, with hundreds joining them on Friday afternoon in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square to demand Israel not advance to the second stage of the US peace plan without his return.

During a press conference with Netanyahu on Monday, Trump declined to answer directly whether he would allow for the commencement of the second phase before the return of Gvili.

Earlier Monday, the Gvili family met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and top White House Middle East advisers Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, according to a statement from the Tikva Forum, which represents some relatively hawkish families of hostages and former hostages.

The conversation was “very positive” and gave assurance that Israel and the US “will do everything to bring Rani home as soon as possible,” the family said in the statement, which added that the three senior officials “stressed that the return of Ran is of great importance to President Trump, and that significant efforts are being made to bring him back.”

After arriving in Florida on Sunday for his meeting with Trump, Netanyahu met with Talik and Itzik Gvili, the premier’s office said in a statement on Monday.

During the meeting, the premier and his wife, Sara Netanyahu, “offered strength and support to Ran’s parents,” and Netanyahu assured them “that every effort is being made to return their son, a brave hero, for burial in Israel,” the statement continued.

The statement added that Talik joined the prime minister on his flight to the US.

At the time of the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre, Gvili, 24, a master sergeant in the police’s Yamam special operations unit, was at home in southern Israel’s Meitar awaiting surgery on his shoulder. When the onslaught began, he donned his police uniform and went out to fight.

He was killed fending off Hamas-led terrorists, and his body was snatched to Gaza, where it is reportedly held by Islamic Jihad.