Israel’s hostage agony finally ends — but its Gaza mission is far from over

A nation willing to sacrifice this much will not accept half-measures, cosmetic victories or temporary fixes, writes columnist Mark Dubowitz. AFP via Getty Images

On Monday, the recovery of the body of Israeli Master Sgt. Ran Gvili — the last remaining hostage held in Gaza — marked a defining moment in its war against Hamas.

It fulfilled a sacred national vow for the Jewish state.

And it delivered a stark message to Israel’s enemies: This is a nation whose resolve, unity and credibility should never be doubted.

Gvili, a 24-year-old police officer, was home recovering from a broken shoulder when sirens pierced the dawn on Oct. 7, 2023.

Ignoring his injury, he rushed to Israel’s southern border, where he killed more than a dozen Hamas terrorists before falling in battle.

His body was dragged into Gaza, along with dozens of Israelis seized in the massacre.

While Hamas ultimately returned most of the hostages under President Donald Trump’s Gaza framework, it withheld Gvili’s remains — a final act of cruelty.

So Israel hunted them down.

Working through the weekend, IDF units fused intelligence, surveillance and ground operations to pinpoint a northern Gaza cemetery.

Under threat of sniper fire, soldiers and forensic teams excavated the site until they uncovered Gvili’s body and made a positive identification.

“There are no more hostages in Gaza,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced to the Knesset, dramatically removing the yellow ribbon pin he has worn in solidarity with the families of the missing.

Then came the pledge: “The other missions, we shall also fulfill.” 

Israel, he said, is “now at the threshold of the next stage: Dismantling Hamas’ military capabilities and demilitarizing the Gaza Strip.”

“The next stage,” he emphasized, “is not reconstruction.”

That means dismantling Hamas, demilitarizing Gaza, and permanently eliminating the terror threat — goals embedded in Trump’s 20-point peace plan.

The world should take Israel at its word.

This is a country that mobilized its citizen army on an unprecedented scale, fought house-to-house through Hamas’ booby-trapped strongholds and absorbed staggering losses.

A nation willing to sacrifice this much will not accept half-measures, cosmetic victories or temporary fixes.

Nor should it.

Yet Hamas still demands a full Israeli withdrawal and renewed access to the outside world via the Gaza-Egypt border, clinging to the illusion that it can survive, regroup and strike again.

That fantasy must be crushed.

Trump on Monday made it clear he’s on the same page as Israel in that regard.

“Now we have to disarm Hamas,” he stated after Gvili’s body was recovered.

Yet Hamas itself pointed to Gvili’s mournful homecoming as evidence that it’s ready to play a role in “facilitating the work” of Gaza’s new transitional government.

This cannot happen.

Its call to be involved with Gaza’s new government represents a dangerous bid for the terrorist organization’s survival under a new name.

No one in Washington should be fooled.

The United States should not grant these vicious terrorists who perpetrated the worst murder of Jews in a single day since the Holocaust any say in Gaza’s future.

Trump must not allow these killers a chance to slyly dodge disarmament by integrating itself into the administration of Palestinian technocrats now tasked with running the strip.

Additionally, the regional mediators — Qatar, Egypt and Turkey — must stop indulging Hamas and start confronting it.

In so doing, they should reassess their own reflexive hostility toward Israel and recognize the region’s emerging reality: Israel is now the Middle East’s preeminent military and moral power.

Trump and his administration deserves credit for making hostage recovery a strategic priority.

But Washington must also remain clear-eyed: Hamas’ promises to help rebuild and govern Gaza are worthless.

A jihadist organization whose core mission is Israel’s destruction cannot be a partner in peace.

This is not a symmetrical conflict — and any diplomatic framework that pretends otherwise is doomed.

The foundation of a lasting settlement must be Israel’s existential security: Hamas dismantled, Gaza demilitarized, and Iran’s terror networks and nuclear and ballistic missile programs crushed.

Not eventually. Permanently.

Israel will achieve these goals — with America’s support, or without it.

Anyone of sound conscience should help deliver them. Or at the very least, should stand aside.

Mark Dubowitz is chief executive of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.