 | This article may incorporate text from a large language model .(October 2025) |
Bipin Joshi was a Nepali agriculture student who was kidnapped and taken hostage by Hamas and later killed. He was taken during the 7 October 2023 attack in southern Israel. [1] [2] [3]
Joshi was participating in a “Learn and Earn” agricultural study program in Israel, working on farms such as citrus and lemon orchards in Kibbutz Alumim, located near the Gaza border. [4] [2] [5] He had arrived in Israel only a few weeks before the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023. During the large-scale assault by Hamas, ten Nepali students were killed, several others were injured, and Joshi was among those abducted and taken to Gaza. In what has been described as an act of bravery, Joshi reportedly threw back a live grenade into a shelter to protect others before being captured. [3] [6]
The Government of Nepal made continuous diplomatic efforts to secure Bipin Joshi's release, appealing to nations such as Egypt and Qatar, as well as engaging directly with Israel. In March 2025, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli personally reached out to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, seeking Egypt's mediation in the hostage release negotiations. Meanwhile, Joshi's mother and sister have either traveled to Israel or plan to do so, aiming to advocate for his case and meet with Israeli officials, as reported by Ratopati. [5]
In late 2024, the Israeli Ambassador to Nepal, Shmulik Arie Bass, stated that there were indications from Arab sources suggesting Bipin Joshi was still alive, though his exact condition and whereabouts remained unknown. Nearly a year later, in October 2025, Joshi's family released a video believed to have been recorded in November 2023, showing him in captivity. In the footage, he identifies himself in English, saying he had come to Israel for the “Learn and Earn” program and was working on a farm [7] [4] [8]
On 13 October 2025, Israel officially informed Nepal that Bipin Joshi was “no longer alive.” The formal communication was delivered by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to Nepal's Embassy in Israel, according to Nepal Views. The Israeli authorities stated that efforts would be made to recover Joshi's body and, if that proved impossible, to provide a full explanation of how he died. However, as reported by Nepali Times and Nepal Views, Nepal's Foreign Ministry had not yet received or confirmed all details of the report and continued to seek further information through diplomatic channels. [9] His forensic reports will be made public later on.