Kathmandu, 20 Oct: Prime Minister Sushila Karki has extended heartfelt condolences and paid tribute to the late Nepali citizen Bipin Joshi, who passed away in Israel.
After Joshi’s body was brought back from Israel to Kathmandu this afternoon, a memorial ceremony was held at Tribhuvan International Airport. During the ceremony, Prime Minister Karki expressed her deep sorrow, praying for eternal peace to the departed soul and conveying profound sympathy to the bereaved family.
The ceremony was attended by several high-level officials, including Minister for Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation Kuleman Ghising, Home Minister Om Prakash Aryal, Minister for Communication and Information Technology Jagadish Kharel, Chief Secretary Ek Narayan Aryal, Foreign Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai, and Israeli Ambassador to Nepal Shmulik Arie Bass, among others. All dignitaries paid floral tributes to the late Joshi and expressed their heartfelt condolences to his family.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, arrangements have been made to transport Joshi’s body from Kathmandu to Dhangadhi by air, and then to his home in Kanchanpur for final rites. The repatriation of the body was carried out through close coordination between the Nepali Embassy in Israel and the Government of Israel.
Bipin Joshi was among the Nepali students taken hostage by Hamas militants during their October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel. The Israeli government officially confirmed Joshi’s death on October 14, 2025. That same attack had tragically claimed the lives of 10 innocent Nepali students.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the Government of Nepal had made every possible diplomatic and humanitarian effort to secure Joshi’s safe release. Despite all efforts, his death marks a heartbreaking loss for the nation and serves as a reminder of the tragic consequences of conflict.
Under the recent initiative of U.S. President Donald Trump, Hamas has handed over 20 living and 4 deceased hostages to the Israeli government as part of the peace, ceasefire, and hostage exchange agreement.
