Haviv Rettig Gur: Hamas is holding Gazans hostage
The Times of Israel Daily Briefing
The Times of Israel
4.5 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 31 January 2026
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring key issues currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, with host Amanda Borschel-Dan speaking with The Times of Israel's senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur.
The body of the final hostage, Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, was recovered from the Gaza Strip this week and buried on Wednesday in his hometown of Meitar.
Rettig Gur delves into the deep Jewish roots and societal promise to bring every last person home that led to this moment of relief.
We then hear about the likelihood of realizing the vision that US envoy Jared Kushner laid out last week about a flourishing, reconstructed "New Gaza."
And so this week, we ask Haviv Rettig Gur, what matters now.
What Matters Now podcasts are available for download on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Ari Schlacht.
IMAGE: A man walks through tents sheltering displaced Palestinians amid the ruins in Gaza City, January 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Times of Israel's What Matters Now. I'm your host, Deputy Editor, Amanda Borschal |
| 0:09.3 | Dan, here with our senior analyst, Javiv Retegur, for another conversation delving into What |
| 0:14.8 | Matters right now to Israel and the Jewish world. Chaviv, thank you so much for joining me today. |
| 0:20.8 | Great to be here, Amanda. Good morning. |
| 0:22.4 | Good morning. It is such a pleasure to be with you always. And I think there's even more |
| 0:27.2 | pleasure because we're going to discuss what this moment right now means for Israelis. |
| 0:32.8 | As many of you know in our listening audience, the final hostage was returned from Gaza this week. |
| 0:39.3 | Today, in fact, marks his funeral, the funeral of Rangvili. |
| 0:43.1 | He will be buried alongside his family in Maitar in the south of the country. |
| 0:48.3 | So today we are going to discuss what this moment means and where we're going to look to turn to next. |
| 0:54.7 | So all of this and more when we're back. |
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... |
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