The mother of the last hostage in Gaza says Israel will not heal until he or his remains are brought home, and that the next phase of a peace plan should not proceed until he is back.

Police officer Ran Gvili was one of 251 hostages seized and taken to Gaza by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in its attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Israeli authorities say they believe he is dead, but his body has not been recovered and his family is clinging to the faint hope that he is still alive.

“We’re at the last stretch and we have to be strong, for Rani, for us, and for Israel. Without Rani, our country can’t heal,” his mother, Talik Gvili, told Reuters.

‘WE WANT TO FEEL HIM’

Posters of Ran Gvili, known by family and friends as Rani, line the streets of Meitar, his hometown in southern Israel.

When Hamas attacked, he was recovering at home from a broken collarbone. He quickly put on his uniform and joined the fight against the Hamas gunmen around Kibbutz Alumim near Gaza.

Gvili, who was 24 at the time, was badly wounded and Israeli authorities said he did not survive for long after being taken to Gaza, his mother said.

“We want to feel him, we want to feel some tiny doubt [that he died],” his mother said, before adding: “It might just be wishful thinking.”

SEARCH FOR GVILI IN GAZA

Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in October, under which violence has subsided but not entirely stopped in Gaza after two years of war precipitated by the terrorist group’s attack.

The US-backed ceasefire deal included a commitment by Hamas to release all remaining hostages in exchange for about 2,000 Palestinian detainees and convicted prisoners held in Israel, and the bodies of 360 deceased Palestinians.

At the time of the deal, 48 hostages remained in Gaza, 28 of them believed dead. Only Gvili is now still in Gaza.

Once all hostages are returned, the ceasefire agreement is meant to move on to its next phase, tackling issues such as the future governance and rebuilding of Gaza, although each side has accused the other of violating the truce agreement.

But with much of Gaza left in ruins by the offensive which Israel launched in response to the Hamas attack, finding Gvili’s remains is taking time.

Asked about the possibility that Israel might proceed with talks on Gaza before he is returned, his mother said: “No way. We won’t let that happen.”

‘WE’RE NOT ALONE’

The hostages’ plight gave birth to a grassroots movement dedicated to their return. Posters showing their faces were placed on highways, bus stops, skyscrapers, shops, and homes across Israel, and people gathered weekly at the Tel Aviv plaza that became known as Hostages Square to demand their return.

“We’re not alone,” Talik Gvili said, adding that she felt support and solidarity from across the political spectrum.

She describes her son as a strong and kind-hearted person who would look out for those weaker than him.

“We’re happy everyone has returned, except for Rani, we have become one big family so every hostage who returned brought relief, closure. But somebody had to be last, and it looks like that was our fate,” she said.

“But that was his thing, to make sure everyone else was okay first.”

Syrians marked the first anniversary of the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad and his iron-fisted rule on Monday with jubilant celebrations in major cities, as the fractured nation struggles to find stability and recover after years of war.

The new leader, President Ahmed al-Sharaa, told a large crowd of supporters that his government had “laid out a clear vision for a new Syria as a state that looks towards a promising future,” calling it a historic break from a “dark chapter.”

Assad fled Syria for Russia a year ago as Sharaa’s rebels seized Damascus following an eight-day blitz through the country, ending his rule more than 13 years after an uprising had spiraled into bitter civil war.

‘WE STARTED LOVING THE COUNTRY,’ SAYS ALEPPO RESIDENT

Sharaa began Monday with dawn prayers at Damascus’ Umayyad Mosque, dressed in the military fatigues he wore as head of the former al-Qaeda rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a uniform he has since switched for the sombre suits of presidential office.

He promised to build a just and strong Syria, state news agency SANA reported.

“From north to south and from east to west, God willing, we will rebuild a strong Syria with a structure befitting its present and past,” he said.

In Aleppo, the first major city to fall to Sharaa’s forces last year, cars paraded through the streets honking their horns, with passengers waving Syria‘s new flag.

“We started loving the country. We didn’t love the country before, we used to try to escape from it,” said Mohammed Karam Hammami, an Aleppo resident.

Sharaa has ushered in big changes which have reshaped Syria‘s foreign ties. He has forged relations with the US, won support from Gulf Arab states and Turkey, and turned away from Assad‘s backers Iran and Russia. Crippling Western sanctions have largely been lifted.

He has promised to replace Assad‘s brutal police state with an inclusive and just order.

However, hundreds of people have been killed in bouts of sectarian violence, causing new displacements and fueling mistrust among minorities towards Sharaa’s government, as he struggles to bring all Syria back under Damascus’ authority.

The Kurdish-led administration that runs the northeast banned gatherings or events on security grounds, citing increased activity by “terror cells” seeking to exploit the occasion. It congratulated Syrians on the anniversary.

The Kurdish-led administration has sought to safeguard its regional autonomy, while in the south, some Druze – followers of a minority sect that is an offshoot of Islam – have been demanding independence in the southern province of Sweida since hundreds of people were killed there in deadly clashes in July with government forces.

FOUR MORE YEARS OF TRANSITION BEFORE ELECTIONS

Sharaa told a forum in Qatar over the weekend that “Syria today is living its best times,” despite the bouts of violence, and said those responsible would be held accountable.

He said a transitional period led by him would continue for four more years, to set up institutions, laws, and a new constitution – to be put to a public vote – at which point the country would hold elections.

Sharaa wields broad powers under a temporary constitution approved in March. The authorities organized an indirect vote in October to form a parliament, but Sharaa has yet to select one third of the 210 members as per the constitution.

The Assad family, members of Syria‘s Alawite minority community, ruled Syria for 54 years.

The Syrian war killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions more since 2011, driving some five million into neighbouring countries as refugees.

The UN refugee agency said on Monday that some 1.2 million refugees, in addition to 1.9 million internally displaced people, had gone home since Assad was toppled, but a decline in global funding could deter others.

Syria‘s central bank governor, speaking at a Reuters NEXT conference last week, said the return of some 1.5 million refugees was helping the economy grow.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says humanitarian needs across Syria are acute, with some 16.5 million people needing aid in 2025.

(JTA) — Four and a half years after Joey Borgen was beaten in the street in New York City while en route to a pro-Israel rally, a sixth individual involved in his assault has been sentenced.

Salem Seleiman, 30, was sentenced to two years in state prison on Thursday in New York State Supreme Court. He pleaded guilty on Sept. 29 to assault in the second degree and assault in the third degree as a hate crime, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.

“Salem Seleiman took part in the repugnant and bias-motivated assault of a Jewish man who was peacefully attending a rally,” said District Attorney Alvin Bragg in a statement. “The victim was targeted based on his religion and did nothing to warrant physical violence.

The attack on May 20, 2021, came amid a string of antisemitic assaults during the conflict between Israel and Hamas at the time.  Seleiman had just attended a pro-Palestinian rally when he came across Borgen, who was wearing a kippah, in Times Square.

During the attack, Seleiman was one of six men who kicked, pepper-sprayed and struck Borgen with a crutch, leaving him needing surgery on his wrist. The group also shouted antisemitic slurs at Borgen during the assault, including “filthy Jew,” “dirty Jew” and “f— Israel.”

According to the district attorney’s office, surveillance footage of the assault showed Seleiman kick Borgen in the face and allegedly urge onlookers to leave the scene. He was arrested in Florida and extradited to New York in May, months after three of the other attackers were sentenced in January 2024.

Four other assailants involved in Borgen’s assault pleaded guilty and were sentenced to prison, while a fifth was put on probation but violated the terms of his release and was later sentenced to jail.

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