Parents of last hostage in Gaza condemn establishment of Board of Peace

Family says moving to Phase Two violates promises President Trump made to them in person.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

The parents of St. Sgt. Rani Gvili condemned Saturday night US President Donald Trump’s announcement of his Board of Peace, which signals the transition to the second stage of his peace plan for Gaza while their son’s body still remains hostage in the Strip.

“How is it possible to think about Phase Two?” Talik and Itzik Gvili wrote. “What kind of peace are we talking about? Whose peace? Peace for those who refuse to return our son to us even though they are bound by the agreement, despite the promises from Israel, the mediators, and the president of the United States?”

Speaking after a personal meeting with Trump at his Florida estate three weeks ago, Itzik Gvili said the president had explicitly pledged that their son would be returned before any progress was made.

“Until Rani comes back, there will be no reconstruction in Gaza,” he recalled Trump promising. “Hamas must disarm — which probably won’t happen — but he said it. If Rani doesn’t return, nothing will move forward.”

In a Truth Social post announcing the formal launch of Phase Two, Trump wrote that the next stage “will secure a comprehensive disarmament agreement with Hamas, including the surrender of all weapons and the dismantling of every tunnel,” and added that “Hamas must immediately honor its commitments, including the return of the last body to Israel.”

The Gvilis now expressed doubt that the commitment would be enforced, saying, “We feel that the US is rushing to rebuild Gaza without obliging Hamas to fulfill its part of the agreement,” and that they were relying on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “to continue to insist on Rani’s return” and maintain a firm stance toward Washington.

More broadly, they warned that concessions to Hamas carry national consequences.

“This tolerance for a terrorist organization begins with giving up Rani and will continue with Hamas remaining armed and dangerous. Whoever gives up Rani also gives up the security of the entire State of Israel,” they wrote.

Under the first stage of the 20-point Gaza framework, all hostages were to be returned to Israel in exchange for large-scale humanitarian aid and the release of more than 2,000 Palestinian security prisoners.

Senior Israeli officials, including Netanyahu, have repeatedly stated that Israel will not proceed to the next phase until this obligation is fully met.

Gvili was killed while defending Kibbutz Alumim during the Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in a fierce firefight with Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists. His body was taken into Gaza and remains the last Israeli hostage not returned.

Israeli officials say they know that PIJ operatives are aware of the location of Gvili’s remains and that Israel has provided detailed intelligence to mediators “multiple times,” without result.

“As a father and mother, we appeal to everyone involved: Do not allow this to happen,” the Gvilis pleaded. “Do not leave our Rani behind and bury us together with him.”