Bipin Joshi, 24, who lost his life while held captive by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, was cremated with state honours at the Mahakali riverbanks in ward 3 of Bhimdatta Municipality, Kanchapur, on Tuesday.

Chief District Officer Laxman Dhakal draped the national flag, and the armed police offered a salute. Staff from the Israeli Embassy in Nepal paid tribute by draping Israel’s national flag over the body.

Earlier, hundreds of well-wishers attended his funeral procession.

Joshi’s body was brought to his home on Monday night from Kathmandu by a Nepali Army Sky Truck and a hearse, following its flight from Israel earlier that day. His father, Mahananda, his mother, Padma, and his sister, Pushpa, broke down as the coffin was carried into the courtyard. Locals did not light lamps or perform Laxmi Puja in mourning.

The Israeli Ambassador to Nepal Shmulik Arie Bass, and embassy staff paid their respects at the Joshi residence.

Joshi had been working at Kibbutz Alumim under Israel’s Learn and Earn Programme with 16 other Nepali students when the attack occurred in October 2023. Other ten Nepalis were killed, five were injured, and one escaped unharmed. His name was missing from the list of hostages freed earlier under a US-brokered ceasefire. Israeli officials confirmed his death on October 13, 738 days after his abduction.

Successive Nepali governments had engaged with officials from Qatar, Jordan, Egypt, and the US to secure his release. Joshi’s family, who travelled to Israel and the US seeking his release, returned to Nepal last week.

The Israeli authorities said that Joshi was murdered in captivity during the first months of the war.