Dr. Esi Sharon, the dentist who confirmed the identity of the last fallen hostage, Ran Gvili Hy”d, shared a powerful account of the experience in an interview with Yedioth Acharonot, describing the intense emotions surrounding the moment he was identified.
Recalling the instant she saw the first photograph, Dr. Sharon said, “When I opened the image that they say sent me from the open grave, I shouted, ‘It’s Rani, it’s him.’ I yelled to the doctor to enter the grave and pull out the body for final identification, which would determine with certainty that he returns home to his family, but inside I already knew. The initial image they sent me was enough for me to conclude that it was Rani. I knew his dental records and their identifying marks by heart. My entire body shook from excitement.” Dr. Sharon serves as commander of the Dental Volunteer Unit within the Police Forensics Department.
She went on to explain how the identification effort unfolded on the ground. “The engineering vehicle operators began to dig holes together with soldiers from the Search Unit, and the dentists entered them to take photos and initial identification. After some time, [pictures of] bodies that the dentists photographed while still in the graves and sent us began to accumulate. Through that method, throughout the night, we ruled out 200 bodies whose graves were opened.”
Since the outbreak of the war, Dr. Sharon has worked alongside fellow dentists and forensic professionals to identify hundreds of victims of the Hamas massacre. Under her leadership, the unit successfully identified every deceased hostage whose remains were returned from the Gaza Strip.
During the mission to recover Ran Gvili, a team of 20 dentists examined roughly 250 bodies in a period of less than 24 hours, completing the painstaking process under extreme pressure and time constraints.
{Matzav.com}
One day after the body of Rani Gvili, who was killed in the Gaza Strip, was returned to Israel, Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu and the government’s Coordinator for Prisoners and Missing Persons, Gal Hirsch, delivered statements to the media addressing the ongoing war, the hostages, and Israel’s next steps.
Netanyahu focused on Israel’s objectives in Gaza and described what he called the essential components of victory. “The complete victory depends on three things-returning all our hostages, dismantling Hamas and its weapons, and demilitarizing the Gaza Strip. Yesterday, we completed the first task.”
Turning to Israel’s plans for Gaza after the fighting, the prime minister drew firm red lines. “We will not allow Turkey to enter Gaza. We will not establish a Palestinian state in Gaza. Israel will maintain security control over the entire area of Gaza.”
Addressing regional threats, Netanyahu warned Iran against any escalation. “The Iranian axis is trying to recover, but we will not allow it to do so. If Iran makes a grave mistake and attacks Israel, we will respond with a force that Iran has never seen before.”
Hirsch spoke emotionally about the cost of the effort to recover hostages and the scale of the losses. He acknowledged the extent of behind-the-scenes work that remains largely unknown to the public, saying, “In Israel, they don’t know everything you did. He helped bring people from Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Venezuela.”
Reflecting on those who were murdered in captivity, Hirsch said, “87 of the kidnapped were killed. I remember them one by one, names and faces, love their families, and am tormented and pained by the terrible suffering and loss.”
Overcome with emotion, he described the personal toll of the mission. “This was the hardest task of my life. It’s not a holiday, but it’s a painful and also a happy day.”
Later, Netanyahu was asked whether national elections would proceed as scheduled amid the political crisis surrounding the conscription law. “That is my hope and aspiration. We need stability, and the last thing Israel needs is elections.”
He was also questioned about preparations for a possible confrontation with Iran and the role of the United States. “President Trump will decide what he decides, and the State of Israel will decide what it decides. We are prepared for any scenario, but I said the main thing here. If Iran makes the mistake and attacks us, it will receive a response it cannot even imagine.”
Netanyahu disclosed challenges Israel faced earlier in the war, including shortages of military supplies. “At a certain point in the war we didn’t have enough ammunition, and soldiers fell. Some of this loss of ammunition also came as a result of the embargo – this changed beyond recognition with the entry of President Trump.”
He concluded by outlining a long-term vision for Israel’s defense independence. “But we have reached security maturity – we must have an independent arms industry. And I intend within a decade to completely free ourselves from the financial component of American security assistance, which currently stands at $4 billion. I want us to move relations with the US from aid relations to cooperation relations – joint investments, joint development and production.”
{Matzav.com}
The Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday evening completed the reading of all sections of the proposed conscription law, marking a major step toward final approval of one of Israel’s most sensitive and long-debated pieces of legislation.
Committee chairman MK Boaz Bismuth announced at the conclusion of the session that the panel has reached the end of the reading stage and that the bill will soon be brought to a vote in the committee ahead of its second and third readings. “We are reaching the finish line,” Bismuth said. “What dragged on for years, what repeatedly got stuck in endless discussions, moved forward during my watch, because there was a clear goal: a law.”
According to Bismuth, the committee’s work was driven by a desire to reach a decision rather than prolong deliberations without resolution. “Brick by brick, through dialogue, cooperation, and determination, we succeeded in completing the complex stage,” he said.
Bismuth also referenced remarks made earlier in the evening by the prime minister, who said Israel is “on the verge of completing the passage of the conscription law.” He noted that responsibility now shifts to the next phase of the legislative process. “The torch passes to the entire Knesset,” Bismuth said, “to continue the process until the law is approved in the plenum.”
{Matzav.com}
Sad news emerged from London on Tuesday night with the passing of R’ Dovid Shimon Berger z”l, a prominent askan for the Satmar and Pshevorsk communities. He was 49.
R’ Dovid Shimon passed away after battling a serious illness over the past year.
R’ Dovid Shimon was the son of the philanthropist and askan R’ Yosef Yechezkel Simcha Berger, the head of the Pshevorsker kehillah in London, and a grandson of R’ Mendel Berger z”l and the renowned philanthropist R’ Getzel Berger z”l.
He was a son-in-law of R’ Avraham Schwartz, and a grandson of the late R’ Lipa Schwartz z”l.
Widely known in London as a dedicated askan, R’ Dovid Shimon devoted himself to the needs of the Satmar mosdos, particularly the Yeitev Lev network, as well as to the Pshevorsker court. He was deeply involved in fundraising for tzedakah and communal causes, and was admired for his generosity, warmth, and open heart.
Yehi zichro baruch.
{Matzav.com}
