Nepalese national Bipin Joshi was taken hostage on October 7 from Kibbutz Alumim. As one of the remaining 76 hostages held by Gaza-based terror organizations, Bipin’s story remains largely unheard. Though his story has not been untold, it is certainly far from the spotlight.
As an agriculture student, Joshi was learning and working in the Gaza border communities. According to a Wall Street Journal report in November 2023, he is responsible for saving the lives of all those hiding in his shelter, as two grenades entered the windowless room before he grabbed them and threw one back outside. The second, according to the report, was not so successful, exploding and severely injuring five of his friends.
Less than a month before, Joshi and 16 other student farmers from Nepal were back home. Now, they were all crunched inside a shelter taking cover from Hamas terrorists who had infiltrated from Gaza. According to the WSJ, Joshi and his colleagues were so new that they were still yet to receive their first paycheck.
Joshi came from a remote village in western Nepal called Bispuri Mahendranagar, where his family resides. His hometown is near Nepal’s border with India. With his family’s support, he traveled to Israel, contributing to the next generation of Nepali workers in Israel’s workforce. While many have been coming to work as caregivers, others like Joshi came on a government-to-government agreement for agricultural work. Israel is a desirable destination for Nepali caregivers due to higher wages compared to Nepal, stable employment, and cultural acceptance of foreign workers in caregiving roles.
Coming to Israel
In 2023, Israel and Nepal signed an agreement to bring Nepali workers into Israel’s agricultural sector, addressing labor shortages caused by reduced migration from Thailand. Even after the loss suffered on October 7, 1,200 Nepali agricultural workers arrived in Israel in early 2024, with plans for thousands more to be employed on farms across Israel, particularly in the Negev and Galilee regions.
Though they were here for work, the Nepali community was present and continued to grow. Between workers who had stayed for over a decade and the maintenance of traditional religious and cultural practices, they could feel at home. Nepali Hindus and Buddhists were and are both able to mark their festivals in Israel.
Plus, the opportunities that would come from Joshi’s new life in Israel could make drastic changes for his family back in the Himalayas. Luckily for him, his amateur rap experience could continue to develop no matter where in the world he was living – that helped him feel like he was at home, reports on his character said.
His father, a school teacher, has continued to hope that he will be on the other end of the line whenever the phone rings, he told the BBC. His mother, Padma, spoke to her son the night before the attacks, and he assured her that he was safe and healthy. But that would change at a moment’s notice.
Before they knew it, his family was being shown video footage taken from Shifa hospital by Israeli officials asking for them to identify their son. The footage showed him alive, but last month, Nepal’s ambassador to Israel, Dhan Prasad Pandit, said there was “no concrete information” on Joshi’s condition and whereabouts.
In the larger scope of the hostage situation in Gaza, of 251 hostages taken on October 7, dozens of foreign workers were abducted. This included 10 Nepali nationals, some of which, including Joshi, had just arrived in Israel as part of initiatives between the two governments. At the time, more than 20 Thai workers, 2 Tanzanian dairy farmers, and a handful of workers from the Philippines and Nepal among other locations were abducted.
Troves had already been murdered. At the time of his abduction, Joshi had already evacuated people he’d saved and gotten them to safety in a kitchen on the kibbutz, trying to motivate others to help him go back and rescue more. Unfortunately, though, this was when Hamas terrorists barged into the space.
The next time he would be seen is in a November 2023 video from Shifa hospital, where several hostages were held, and was the known location of the murder of IDF soldier Noa Marciano, reportedly at the hands of one of the facilities’ doctors.
Joshi’s case, much like that of the other remaining and released former captive foreign workers, became a true test of diplomatic solutions to bringing everyone home. Countries with more resources and, in some cases, more at stake, like the US, Russia, and France, were more involved. However, this left countries with a different diplomatic appeal and different resources to pool what they could in their efforts to bring their people home. Unlike the US, which allocated resources to help find their citizens in Gaza through surveillance drones and other efforts, Tanzania, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Thailand had different experiences locating their missing.
Efforts to identify him, the Nepali farm student who disappeared amid a national massacre, a joint effort of peers, volunteers, and Nepali diplomats pieced together anything they could with the limited proof of life they could gather. When he’d gone missing, his government back home was still in its first year, struggling. This would be a major challenge for them to face as a nation.
Military intelligence and testimonies from former hostages indicated that the hostages were held in underground tunnels and UNRWA facilities, amongst other locations. For Joshi and his agricultural counterparts, this was the polar opposite of what brought them to Israel. Instead of fresh air and tending to the earth, they were living in darkness, torture, and filth.
To make matters worse, so many of them were thousands of miles from home. Did their families even know?
Keeping the family informed
Shira Abbo, the head of public policy for the Israeli NGO Hotline for Refugees and Migrants, told The Jerusalem Post that the moment they knew something was wrong in the country on October 7, they immediately started checking on the workers, and were in touch with their families across the world immediately.
This defense organization for the rights of migrants and refugees in Israel assists vulnerable individuals, particularly those held in immigration detention, in receiving the rights they are entitled to.
“We have been in touch with Bipin’s family from the very start. The massacre on Alumim was some of the first proof, we saw videos in real time on October 7. Hotline staff members tried to get help to get police, and anyone to go there. We didn’t understand why it was taking so long for anyone. It was the first thing we knew – this massacre, specifically on this kibbutz. [From the kibbutz Bipin was abducted from], there were 10 Nepali students and 13 Thai workers that were murdered there alone. It was one of the worst massacre scenes [from that day],” she divulged.
Now, as remaining hostages wait to be released in the next phase of the deal, advocates for Israel’s migrants, including Bipin Joshi, are waiting for more information. “We don’t know anything about an agreement, if he’s even on a list.” The organization noted that it was unclear of Nepal’s role in negotiations on his behalf.
Basu Dev, Joshi’s cousin, told The Jerusalem Post Podcast that Joshi came with a group of more than 200 other agriculture students from his side of the world – a handful of which were killed on October 7, and more that were saved due to Joshi’s selfless and heroic efforts.
When asked about what efforts have been made on his cousin’s behalf, Dev said that the family has been in talks with the Nepali government and foreign ministry, the government, and human rights organizations among others. “We asked our government to talk with Qatar,” Dev told the Podcast. “Today, we don’t have any information. Even with the released foreign hostages, we are not updated on any conditions,” he said. Optimism is difficult for families like Joshi’s, but that does not keep them from trying to keep their chins up.
Still, amid attempts at optimism, reality checks in.
Dev noted the reality of the current ceasefire deal. “This is not a permanent ceasefire, it’s a temporary one. What happens if the fighting starts again and he’s not out?”
His relatives expressed continued hope, with simultaneous heartbreak. “I am so happy for those released. But that’s hard too. We know nothing for Bipin,” his cousin said.
In a heartfelt birthday dedication in October from the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, Bipin’s siblings and mother spoke to their missing loved one. Placing her hands together, his sister said, “I request from the Israeli government and army, please bring him back to Nepal, and save his life! Rescue Bipin Joshi, pray for Bipin Joshi, and save all of the hostages.”
Hotline’s Abbo also stated that the organization was troubled by the silence regarding Joshi, as well as the other remaining migrants held hostage, both alive and dead. “We’re concerned that there were no more updates regarding the release of the remaining migrants who are held hostage: Nattapong Pinta and Bipin Joshi, and the bodies of Joshua Luito Mollel, Suthisak Rintalak and Sonthaya Akrasri who were murdered on October 7th,” they said. “Nattapong Pinta is a father, his son, and wife are waiting for him to return. Joshua Lutio Mollel’s family longs for the day when they can bring their son home for burial in his home country. Bipin Joshi’s family is holding on to the hope that he survived. They all deserve to be reunited with their loved ones.”
“All of them were invited to Israel to work in our fields and bring food to the tables of Israeli citizens. Israel has an obligation to them and to their families,” they said.
The writer and podcast cover similar areas, but each was researched and constructed independently.