People participate in a candlelight vigil for Bipin Joshi, a Nepali man who was taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, and was recently declared dead, in Kathmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha) The family of Bipin Joshi, the Nepali student who was abducted by Hamas on October 7, 2023, said they are devastated to learn that he won’t be coming back. The 23-year-old who was abducted by Hamas from a shelter in Kibbutz Alumim was revealed as one of the four deceased hostages returned on Monday.
“A week ago, we shared proof of life of our beloved son, Bipin. It was filmed in Hamas tunnels about a month after October 7th, showing our son speaking to the camera, healthy and strong. We held on to that video with faith and hope, believing we would see our beautiful boy smile again and return home. With immense pain, we received today the most devastating news,” the family said in a message shared on social media by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
Bipin was one of the 17 Nepalese agriculture students who came to Israel just over three weeks before Kibbutz Alumim was attacked by Hamas. Ten of the Nepalese students were killed in the attack, and Bipin was captured alive by Hamas.
But before he was abducted, Bipin saved the lives of some of his friends by picking up and throwing a grenade Hamas had thrown near the bunkers.
“Today we can say out loud: Bipin, you are a hero! The grenade you deflected before being brutally abducted saved the lives of your friends. We were so afraid they would discover you were a hero and hurt you; we only prayed you would survive,” the family said.
Speaking about his death, Bipin’s family said the ground has fallen beneath our feet.
“The ground has fallen beneath our feet; words cannot describe the void left within us—a void that first opened two years ago and has now deepened forever. Bipin left us with excitement, setting out for a year-long learning experience in Israel. We never imagined that the hug we gave him that day would be the last,” they said.
The family of the late Bipin Joshi, who has been returned to Israel and will be brought back to Nepal, asked to share the following message:
“A week ago, we shared proof of life of our beloved son, Bipin. It was filmed in Hamas tunnels about a month after October 7th, showing… pic.twitter.com/Hq5Hen9VBs
— Bring Them Home Now (@bringhomenow) October 15, 2025
The family also thanked Donald Trump, the government of the United States, and the governments of Israel and Nepal, and others who helped in getting his remains back, after two years.
“We fought with all our strength, believing that one day we would return home together. Soon, you will return home to your eternal rest, and we will continue to fight—this time for sanity, for the strength to wake up each morning, for the future, just as you asked,” they said.
