After additional checks by multiple dental specialists, prayers filled the small examination area as certainty replaced doubt.

By World Israel News Staff

New details are beginning to emerge about the intelligence and operational trail that led to the recovery of the body of Ran Gvili, shedding light on a complex effort that unfolded quietly over weeks and culminated in the conclusion of Israel’s hostage mission in Gaza.

Security officials revealed that about a month ago, Israeli forces carried out a covert operation in southern Gaza City in which a terrorist from Palestinian Islamic Jihad was seized and taken for interrogation.

According to the Shin Bet, the terrorist had been involved in military activity against Israeli forces during the war and was suspected of having direct knowledge of the location of Gvili’s burial site.

During questioning, the terrorist admitted to involvement in moving Gvili’s body between several locations and pointed to additional individuals who were aware of where he was ultimately buried.

The interrogation produced renewed intelligence that reinforced an existing assessment that the body was buried in the al-Batash cemetery in northern Gaza. That location later proved correct.

Over the weekend, the IDF launched Operation Brave Heart, acting on intelligence it said had been in its possession for months.

Troops operated in a cemetery located between the Shejaiya and Daraj Tuffah neighborhoods, just beyond the Yellow Line in an area under Israeli control.

Forces from the Alexandroni Brigade, alongside combat engineers, medical teams, and Military Rabbinate personnel, exhumed more than 200 graves, with hundreds more examined in the painstaking search.

A dentist equipped with a portable X-ray machine assisted with rapid identification using dental records, while mental health officers accompanied the troops throughout the operation.

Further insight into the final hours of the mission emerged in an interview aired on Kan News’ Reshet Bet radio station.

Lt. Col. (res.) Elisaf Verman, commander of the Southern Scanning Unit of the Military Rabbinate, described an operation marked by exhaustion, silence, and singular focus. He said teams worked continuously through freezing night conditions, extracting hundreds of bodies without pause.

Verman recounted the moment the identification became clear. He described noticing the hands of a doctor shaking over her equipment, her eyes reddening before a tear fell and a quiet smile appeared.

Later, after additional checks by multiple dental specialists, prayers filled the small examination area as certainty replaced doubt.

To prevent any leak before the family was notified, the teams continued working as usual. Only after confirmation was delivered to the family were the soldiers informed.

Nearly 150 troops gathered silently, many still stepping down from heavy machinery, when the announcement was made: Ran had been found.

“There was crying, hugging, people breaking down,” Verman said. Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead, was recited beside the body, which was wrapped in an Israeli flag.

A brief military formation followed in the presence of the IDF chief of staff, before the fallen soldier was transferred to his family. “When we handed the coffin to his father,” Verman said, “a very meaningful circle closed for us in this war.”

With the return of Ran Gvili, there are no longer any hostages, living or fallen, held in Gaza. What remains are the stories behind the silence, the intelligence gathered inch by inch, and a mission that ended not with celebration, but with resolve, memory, and closure.

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