The deputy commander of the Southern Command Search Unit in the Military Rabbinate’s Combat Unit, Major A., has described the operation that led to the recovery of the remains of Ran Gvili, the last deceased hostage held in the Gaza Strip. In an interview with Arutz Sheva–Israel National News, Maj. A. detailed Operation Courageous Heart and the complex effort required to complete the mission.
According to Maj. A., preparations for the operation had been underway for some time, but a range of operational limitations delayed its execution. Despite the postponements, the unit maintained a high level of readiness until an opportunity finally emerged. “Last week they were notified of a window of opportunity to execute the mission, and we began to get ready. We called the soldiers from their homes three days before the operation, we were issued the dedicated gear, and we practiced on dummies,” he said.
Maj. A. explained that several additional units operated under his command during the mission. These included a forensic dental team responsible for identification, an explosives ordnance unit tasked with protecting the forces, terrain specialists, an IDF anthropologist, personnel from the Captives and Missing Persons Unit, and the combat soldiers who carried out the recovery itself.
Describing the work in the field, Maj. A. said the unit advanced alongside engineering forces that carefully excavated the area. “We joined an engineering unit that dug in the dirt with the excavators and pulled out the remains. This is very precise work; it demands great concentration by the troops,” he said. He noted that before entering the cemetery area, a navigation and marking team analyzed aerial imagery and flagged locations where there was a likelihood of finding Gvili’s remains.
Maj. A. emphasized that although heavy machinery was used, the approach was deliberately restrained. He described it as the most delicate work possible with the largest tools available. Prior to the operation, he addressed his soldiers about the sensitivity involved, and throughout the mission there was close coordination between a supervisor on the ground and the excavator operator to ensure precision.
Once remains were removed from the ground, they were carefully arranged to allow an initial assessment by forensic dentists. Maj. A. said the process involved exact documentation and clear marking, to confirm that every element intended to be recovered from the grave was indeed accounted for.
Reflecting on the moment the remains were located, Maj. A. said the discovery came sooner than expected. “We began on Sunday afternoon, and we were prepared for a few more days. For this, we called up a few more soldiers to allow for the constant execution of the operation, but we found Ran even before the next group of soldiers. There was a great sense of pride, the feeling of coming full circle on a biblical level,” he said. He recalled speaking to his soldiers beforehand about the biblical account of Samson, noting how scripture describes Samson’s family returning to recover his body after the collapse of the pillars. “We have the same spirit and the same heritage.”
When asked about the dangers involved, Maj. (Res.) A. acknowledged that the mission was carried out under significant risk, though he said the details could not be shared because the area remains an active combat zone. He pointed to the security perimeter provided by the Alexandroni Brigade and stressed that the threat level persisted throughout the operation.
Maj. A. also spoke about the makeup of the Military Rabbinate’s combat unit, explaining that it draws fighters from across the IDF. “These are infantry fighters from all IDF units, religious and secular alike, who are willing to carry out the mission that the people of Israel need,” he said.
He described a profound sense of completion felt by the soldiers after Gvili was recovered, connecting the moment to the unit’s earlier experiences. “Before the war, we were required to assist along the Judea and Samaria sector. We were stationed at the Lamed-Heh outpost, where we carried out operational activity for nearly a month. During that period, we conducted a drill to maintain our operational readiness, and at its conclusion, we held a formation in which we recounted the Lamed-Heh convoy incident, in which our soldiers were killed and their bodies abused until a British officer understood the importance of the matter and brought the fallen to Kfar Etzion, where the Vilna Gaon’s lottery was conducted. We pledged that we would not leave a fallen soldier behind. As a unit, we swore to bring everyone back. We held that formation on the anniversary of the fall of the Lamed-Heh platoon, and now, on the Hebrew date of the 8th of Shevat, we found Ran Gvili. For us, this is a very special closing of a circle.”
Toward the conclusion of the interview, Maj. A. addressed questions about the findings inside Gvili’s grave. He said the discoveries were consistent with the intelligence the unit had received ahead of time, including dental evidence used for identification. He added that “based on the information we received, we understood that he might be found with some of his uniform, and indeed we found those items in that same grave together with his remains.” According to Maj. A., the information guiding the operation was obtained through a combination of human intelligence and additional technological capabilities.
{Matzav.com}
A suspect who repeatedly drove a car into the entrance of Chabad-Lubavitch World Headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway on Wednesday night had spent time inside the shul earlier that day and spoke with Yeshiva students, according to witnesses. Sources also said the individual had appeared at other Chabad locations in recent months.
The man, who has not been publicly identified, was arrested after he drove a gray Honda sedan bearing New Jersey license plates into an entrance of the building multiple times during the evening.
Yaacov Behrman, a spokesperson for Chabad, said a group of bochurim encountered the suspect about an hour before the crash. According to Behrman, the man approached the students near 770 and asked when the farbrengen for Yud Shevat would be held.
“The students told him that there were events both that night and the following day,” Behrman said.
Video from the scene shows the car entering the driveway at 770 Eastern Parkway and repeatedly slamming into a side doorway of the shul. Clips shared online appear to show the driver reversing and striking the entrance at least four times.
New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said officers quickly detained the driver. The NYPD has launched a hate crime investigation, Tisch said. Police reported that the suspect later claimed a mechanical malfunction caused the crash and that he made no terroristic statements after his arrest. No injuries were reported.
Several witnesses said the man had been standing outside the building before the incident. A 20-year-old student, Shlomo, said the suspect remained outside the building for 15 to 20 minutes in below-freezing temperatures, dressed only in shorts, a T-shirt, and an unzipped hoodie.
“He seemed a little not with it,” the student said, adding that the clothing was strikingly inappropriate for the weather.
Witnesses and other sources told investigators that the same individual had been spotted at other Chabad centers, including sites in New Jersey, in recent months. An undated video circulating on social media appears to show the suspect inside the shul at 770, dancing with bochurim after Shacharis.
One witness said the man frequently asked people for assistance and that police had previously been contacted about his behavior. Another source recalled seeing him at a New Jersey Chabad center in November, where he was “looking for spiritual guidance.”
“He was very learned—he knew a lot about the Bible and Judaism. He was having a hard time with life,” the source said. Others noted that the man gave inconsistent accounts of his background, at times saying his mother was Jewish and at other times claiming to be Jewish himself.
Behrman said he believes the attack was deliberate and driven by bias.
“This is a very serious incident—it’s very frightening,” Behrman said. We’re concerned about what this person intended to do. The real question is, how do we make sure this does not ever happen again?”
As a precaution, the building was evacuated after the crash. Police said the vehicle was secured and the area was cleared.
WATCH:
President Trump said he successfully persuaded Russian leader Vladimir Putin to pause attacks on Ukraine for a short period because of dangerously cold weather, describing the agreement as an unexpected but welcome outcome of their recent phone call.
According to Trump, the request focused on sparing Kyiv and other populated areas during a stretch of extreme temperatures that have created hazardous conditions for civilians.
“I personally asked President Putin not to fire on Kyiv and the cities and towns … for a week,” Trump said.
Trump emphasized that the cold gripping the region was unusually severe and a key factor behind his appeal.
“It’s extraordinary. It’s … record-setting over there.”
He added that many had doubted the request would succeed, but said Putin ultimately agreed, calling the result a positive development.
“He agreed to do that, and I have to tell you, people said, ‘Don’t waste the call, you’re not going to get that’ and he did it, and we’re very happy that he did.”
{Matzav.com}
Amir Zini, whose son Nirel was murdered on October 7, says public claims that there are no remaining hostages in Gaza ignore a painful reality: his son’s body was not returned in full. Speaking with Arutz Sheva, Zini described learning that after the burial of Ran Gvili, officials declared the matter closed, even though Nirel’s head has never been recovered or brought to burial.
Zini portrayed Nirel as someone who lived with deep responsibility for others, never abandoning anyone and always looking out for those around him. That character, he said, was evident both in civilian life and during his military service, including after a serious injury in 2015 that left lasting damage.
For nearly two years, Zini chose not to speak publicly. He felt that other families were enduring even greater anguish, with no burial place at all to visit. While Nirel had a funeral and a grave, Zini said, the knowledge that part of his son was missing weighed heavily but kept him silent.
That silence ended after encouragement from a neighbor and friend, Brigadier General (Res.) Oren Solomon, who urged him to come to the Knesset. Zini did so and later expanded on the experience in an Arutz Sheva interview. “From the very first moment, we felt something was incomplete, but we didn’t know what exactly,” he said. He added, “The media didn’t want to deal with it. They told us it was too difficult and painful to say his head was missing. I told them that I didn’t write this script…” Zini also recounted that Nirel was killed alongside Niv Raviv and had planned to propose to her two days later. The engagement was set for the anniversary of the 2015 injury that ultimately forced him to leave the IDF after six more years of service, when doctors discovered his heart was functioning at only a quarter of its capacity.
According to Zini, police investigators from Lahav 433 were aware that Nirel’s head was missing but did not pass that information along to the family or other authorities. “They were the only ones who knew that perhaps terrorists had taken the head, and this information was never passed to anyone, especially not to us as a family. Someone decided for us that they knew what was best for us to know and what not to know.”
Even when the family was summoned to Lahav 433, Zini said the issue was not raised. “Only after a few questions did I realize there was no investigation. I demanded to see pictures. They told me the pictures were too difficult and questioned why I should see them. I felt there was something they didn’t want me to see,” he recalled. After insisting and signing documents, he was shown images that confirmed his son had been buried without his head.
When Zini pressed to find out who else had been informed, he was initially told the Shin Bet had not asked for the information and therefore did not receive it. He was also told the military had not been notified, a statement later walked back with the claim that the information had been transferred. When he asked for documentation, he was told the update had been delivered verbally.
Zini went on to describe the work of the forensic identification unit led by Lt. Col. Yossi Cohen, involving roughly a thousand soldiers who collected and identified body parts after the attack. Yet, he said, once it became clear to him that Nirel was buried incomplete, he learned the unit had already been disbanded. The search for the missing remains was never defined as a formal “mission,” he said, meaning no order was issued to retrieve his son’s head, unlike in other cases. Without such a designation, he said, nothing moved forward.
He described repeated attempts to get answers, often met with silence or partial explanations. When he asked why Nirel was not considered a hostage, he was told there was no intelligence pointing in that direction. Zini challenged that logic, asking how intelligence could be found if no one was looking. He said the Shin Bet told him it does not act on civilian cases unless formally requested by police or another authority, and no such request had ever been made.
Frustrated, Zini said the family began searching on its own. Each morning at five, he would go to the area of Be’eri where Nirel’s body had been found. Alongside relatives and occasional volunteers, they combed the ground. At times, they used a tractor to lift small amounts of earth, carefully returning the soil at day’s end so as not to disrupt the lives of local residents.
Asked whether he regretted waiting so long to speak out, Zini said he did not. He noted that once his story began circulating, Lahav 433 investigators called to request a meeting. “I told them I wouldn’t come if they didn’t have anything new for me,” he said. “Only if they admit to their mistake and say they intend to begin corrective actions will I come. Now, I don’t believe I will get such a call.”
Zini said his account did reach members of the Knesset. During one search in the Gaza-border community, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana arrived at the site. The two were introduced, and Zini shared his story. Ohana contacted the police, who acknowledged it was unacceptable for a father to be searching the ground for his son’s bones and promised to address the issue. Zini said he was then referred from one officer to another until reaching one who said he had been asked to help but given no timetable. Acting on his own initiative, the officer later brought cadets on a free Friday to assist in sifting sand, though nothing was found.
“I was referred to Gal Hirsch. I went to meet him after phone calls and conversations. The meeting felt like they were doing me a favor,” Zini said. He added, “I sent a letter to the Prime Minister through his assistants. I don’t know if he received it or read it.” At this stage, Zini said he expects at least a meeting with the Prime Minister, whom he sees as the authority capable of ordering a serious, renewed search.
As for what he believes happened, Zini was blunt. “Terrorists took the head to trade it.” He said another victim, Aviad Edri, was found in a similar state just meters away, and that family also was not informed. “The Chevra Kadisha returned the bodies to honor the family. I had a feeling that Nirel’s body was being returned,” he said, as he described learning the disturbing details of Aviad Edri’s case, in which he was personally involved. Zini said the choice not to tell the families was made by a senior committee that “decided we don’t need to know.”
“No soldier should risk their lives to bring the head, but it should be a mission,” Zini stressed. He said that during the operation to locate Ran Gvili, soldiers encountered many unexamined findings, including heads. Some of those soldiers sent him photographs so he could review them independently, though nothing has yet been confirmed. “What is not ordered will not be done,” he said. Zini added that beyond his personal struggle, his goal is broader: “for us to know who we are dealing with and that Amalek exists in our generation. If terrorists can get away with it, we should name the child after him.”
{Matzav.com}
Hundreds of mispallelim davened Shacharis at Kever Yosef in Shechem early this morning, marking the first daylight davening at the site in 25 years, since the IDF withdrew from the compound and transferred responsibility to the Palestinian Authority.
The historic tefillah followed an overnight entry by hundreds of mispallelim into the Kever Yosef complex, part of the regular, coordinated visits organized by the Shomron Regional Council with IDF escort and full military authorization.
The move to allow davening in daylight is part of a broader, structured plan being advanced by Shomron Regional Council head Yossi Dagan and MK Tzvi Sukkot, together with Rav Dudu Ben Natan, the father of IDF soldier Shoval Ben Natan hy”d, who was killed in combat in southern Lebanon and had been active in efforts to restore Jewish access to the site.
The Shomron Regional Council emphasized that the initiative’s goal is to enable a permanent Jewish return to Kever Yosef and to restore the Od Yosef Chai yeshiva to the compound. According to the council, the plan was formulated in coordination with additional partners and is based on a gradual series of steps designed to reestablish a continuous Jewish presence at the makom kadosh.
Yossi Dagan described the event as a milestone moment. “This morning is a morning of historic correction. After years of entering under cover of darkness like thieves in the night, we are returning home with our heads held high and in full daylight. Kever Yosef is an important symbol, and the move to enter in daylight is a significant step within our work plan to establish a permanent and full foothold at the site.
“We will not stop until the Israeli flag is flown here on a permanent basis and the ‘Od Yosef Chai’ yeshiva returns to its place. Am Yisrael is returning to the Shomron, Am Yisrael is returning to its land.”
MK Tzvi Sukkot also hailed the development, saying: “We merited an important step forward with the fulfillment of Shacharis davening and entry to Kever Yosef in daylight. This is the beginning of a significant and historic correction, and we will continue to act until full Jewish presence is restored at Kever Yosef.”
{Matzav.com}
