Kathmandu, October 13(HS): The Government of Nepal and the family of Bipin Joshi have received official confirmation that the Nepali citizen, held hostage by Hamas for nearly three years, is no longer alive.The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) formally delivered the news this morning in a joint video conference with the Nepali Embassy in Tel Aviv and Joshi’s family.

In the presence of officials from the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office and Nepali Ambassador Dhan Prasad Pandit, the IDF informed Joshi’s mother, sister, and his brother in Dhangadhi, Nepal, that he did not survive his captivity.

Ambassador Pandit has since relayed the information to officials at Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.The confirmation follows the notable absence of Joshi’s name from a list of 20 hostages being released by Hamas under the recent ceasefire agreement, despite some Israeli media reports that had previously claimed he was alive.Joshi arrived in Israel in September 2023 as part of a cultural exchange program with about a dozen other students. He was taken hostage during the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, an incident in which 10 other Nepali students were killed.

Today’s official notification brings a tragic end to his family’s long period of uncertainty.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar