Bipin’s body flown home from Israel

KATHMANDU: The Israeli government held a farewell ceremony for slain Nepali youth Bipin Joshi while repatriating his body to Nepal.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) received the body from Hamas last week.

Joshi, who was in Israel under the ‘learn and earn program’ of the Israeli government, deflected a grenade during the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, and saved the lives of several people, according to media reports. He was taken hostage by Hamas from Kibbutz Alumim on October 7, 2023, and killed in captivity in Gaza.

Residents of Kibbutz Alumim and the Sdot Hanegev Regional Council, officials of the Embassy of Nepal in Israel, and Israeli foreign ministry officials were present at the airport for the farewell ceremony.

Gal Hirsch, Israel’s point man on hostages, lit a memorial candle for Joshi and praised his heroic actions on October 7. “I am sorry. It shouldn’t have ended this way,” Hirsch said, according to Times of Israel. “Bipin came to Israel to learn, and now we are sending him home, with pain and sadness.” Hamas.