Sumit Chaturvedi/VOIWORLD
The Israeli Foreign Ministry on Sunday held a solemn farewell ceremony at Ben Gurion Airport for Bipin Joshi, the 23-year-old Nepali Hindu agricultural student who was abducted by Hamas during the October 7, 2023 attacks and later killed in captivity in Gaza. His body, recovered last week as part of a ceasefire and hostage-release deal, is being repatriated to Nepal.
Joshi had arrived in Israel just three weeks before the Hamas assault, as part of an international agricultural training program run by MASHAV, Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation under the Foreign Ministry. He was placed at Kibbutz Alumim in southern Israel, where he worked alongside other Nepali and Thai students tending to orange and lemon orchards. When the attack began that morning, Joshi and his friends sought refuge in a shelter, initially unaware of the scale of the unfolding tragedy. In a moment of grim irony, the young students even took selfies and uploaded them to social media with the caption “Bunker Time,” not realizing that their lives were about to change forever.
Moments later, Hamas gunmen stormed the shelter, killing two Nepali students and hurling grenades into the crowded space. In an act of extraordinary courage, Joshi managed to deflect one grenade away, saving several of his classmates, though the second exploded, leaving many wounded. Amid the chaos, he tried to help the injured reach safety. Before being captured, he sent a message to his cousin, writing, “If something happens to me, you have to take care of my family. Be strong and always see the future.” He and three Thai workers were then forced out of the shelter at gunpoint. None of them were seen alive again.
For nearly two years, Joshi’s family in Nepal held onto hope. The only proof of life came from a short video released shortly after the attack, showing him alive in Hamas captivity inside Gaza tunnels. Months passed without further news, and although Israeli authorities had at times listed his status as “missing,” his family continued to pray for a miracle. That hope ended earlier this month, when the Israeli government confirmed that his remains had been identified among those recovered by the Israel Defense Forces during operations in Gaza.
At Sunday’s farewell ceremony, Israeli officials, diplomats, and friends gathered to honour the young man whose courage had saved lives. Gal Hirsch, Israel’s coordinator for hostages and missing persons, lit a memorial candle and paid tribute to Joshi’s heroism. “I am sorry. It shouldn’t have ended this way,” he said quietly. “Bipin came to Israel to learn, and now we are sending him home with pain and sadness. He was a skilled student, a great person, and above all, a hero. He fought bravely, saved lives during the attack, survived, but was murdered in captivity.”
Also present at the ceremony were residents of Kibbutz Alumim, representatives of the Sdot Hanegev Regional Council, and senior Foreign Ministry officials including Eynat Shlein, Deputy Director-General and head of MASHAV. They stood alongside members of the Nepali diplomatic mission, as Israeli soldiers saluted the flag-draped coffin before its departure for Kathmandu.
Back home in Nepal, Joshi’s family awaits his return in the southwestern district of Kanchanpur, where national honours will be accorded to him. The government of Nepal has described him as a symbol of “courage, sacrifice, and friendship,” highlighting his bravery in the face of terror. For many, Bipin Joshi represents not only the strength of the Nepali people but also the shared grief that binds nations in times of tragedy.
As his coffin made its final journey from Tel Aviv, wrapped in the colours of both Nepal and Israel, the image of the young student — who came to learn and ended up saving others — became a poignant reminder of the human cost of conflict. In Israel, he is remembered as a hero. In Nepal, he is mourned as a son. And across both nations, Bipin Joshi’s name now stands as a testament to courage, compassion, and sacrifice that will not be forgotten.
