Bipin Joshi no more, IDF informs family

KATHMANDU: Israeli authorities have formally notified the Nepali mission in Jerusalem that Bipin Joshi, who was taken captive by Hamas during the October 2023 attack, is no longer alive.

An officer from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) conveyed the information at 7:30 am, according to Nepal’s Ambassador to Israel, Dhan Prasad Pandit. “The IDF officer made the announcement via a video conference with me, Bipin’s family members and officials from the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office,” Pandit said.

Bipin’s name was not included in the list of 20 individuals set to be released by Hamas on Monday.

Bipin, a student from Kanchanpur, had gone to Israel under the Israeli government’s Learn and Earn program. He was taken hostage during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack in which ten Nepali students were killed.

Last week, a video recorded about a month after Bipin’s abduction was released by the Israel Defense Forces, rekindling hopes that he might still be alive.