KATHMANDU, Oct 14 — The body of Bipin Joshi, the Nepali student abducted by Hamas during the October 7, 2023 assault on southern Israel, has been confirmed through DNA testing, according to officials. The findings also revealed that Joshi was killed toward the end of 2023.
Nepal’s Ambassador to Israel, Dhan Prasad Pandit, told Republica that Israeli authorities completed DNA verification confirming that the body recovered from Gaza was Joshi’s. “The Israeli authorities have confirmed that the body they received is of Bipin,” Pandit said, adding that the test results were cross-checked with DNA samples provided earlier by Joshi’s family during his mother and sister’s visit to Israel.
Pandit said Israeli officials informed him that Joshi had likely died around the end of 2023.
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The body, handed over by Hamas to Israeli authorities on Monday evening, was transported to Tel Aviv for forensic testing. Following the confirmation, Israeli officials are preparing to officially notify Nepal through diplomatic channels. “The Israeli foreign minister will now formally communicate the information to Nepal’s foreign minister,” Pandit said.
Once diplomatic procedures are completed, Joshi’s body will be repatriated to Nepal. Before that, formal final rites will be conducted in Israel in coordination with the Nepali Embassy.
Joshi’s mother and sister, who had recently traveled to the United States to raise his case at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, are now preparing to return to Nepal, Pandit confirmed.
Earlier, the Israeli military had announced that Hamas had returned the bodies of four hostages, including Joshi’s. The confirmation of his death brings a heartbreaking end to nearly two years of uncertainty for his family and the Nepali public.
Joshi, who was in Israel under the Learn and Earn agricultural training program, was abducted from the Alumim Kibbutz on October 7, 2023, during Hamas’s surprise cross-border assault. His fate had remained unverified until this week, despite video footage showing him alive shortly after the abduction.
On Sunday, Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) confirmed that Joshi’s name was not among those released in the Israel–Hamas prisoner exchange. The Ministry had earlier stated that the government had made “every possible effort over the past two years at various levels for his safe release” and pledged to continue seeking updates until all hostages, living or deceased, were accounted for.
According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Hamas had held 48 hostages in Gaza during ceasefire negotiations, including the bodies of those killed during or after the October 7 attack. Joshi’s case had remained among the last unverified until Tuesday’s DNA confirmation.
