With the return of the body of police officer Ran Gvili earlier this week, the last hostage in Gaza, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum held its last Kabbalat Shabbat service at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv on Friday.

The mood was subdued but cheerful and the weather was warm and sunny as hundreds turned out for the service welcoming the Sabbath.

Most of the installations that had long filled the square were removed, though not all.

Under a tent, attendees sipped wine and ate cakes as a man sang “Habayta,” a song about returning home that became an anthem for the movement to free the hostages.

The hostage crisis that began on October 7, 2023, lasted for 843 days, ending on January 26, 2026, with the recovery of the body of Gvili. His return marked the first time since July 20, 2014, that no Israelis were held hostage in the Gaza Strip.

Ayelet Sela Youngerman, a representative of the Kibbutz Movement that organized the services, opened the ceremony by saying the feeling in the square was different following the return of Gvili’s remains.

“For several weeks I’ve stood here and started the Kabbalat Shabbat with the obligatory sentence, ”Until the last hostage’ is not just a slogan,'” she said. “Now in the square, thanks to you, today we can say we kept our promise: Rani is back and there are no more hostages.”

Gvili’s family was not at the service, as they were observing the seven-day Shiva mourning period for him. Three of his friends, who did not state their full names, represented the family and thanked the hundreds who gathered on their behalf.

“You let them feel that Rani is........

© The Times of Israel