
When Hamas led the October 7, 2023 incursions into Israel, killing around 1,200 people, around 250 people were taken in Gaza as hostages, including citizens of Israel, the United States, Britain, Mexico, Thailand and other countries.
Among the prisoners were the bodies of 37 people killed in the attack, Israeli officials said. Now, about 100 hostages, dead and alive, are still held in the enclave, officials say.
The ceasefire agreement announced Wednesday between Israel and Hamas will begin with an initial phase lasting six weeks and will result in the release of 33 hostages and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. The agreement calls for Hamas to release three female hostages on day one, four more on day 7 and 26 more over the next five weeks, according to a copy of the document obtained by The New York Times. The agreement has yet to be formally ratified by the Israeli government.
Here’s a closer look at the hostage situation in Gaza.
How many hostages have already been released?
Early in the war, Hamas freed four hostages: two Israeli-American women, Judith Raanan, then 59, and her daughter, Natalie Raanan, then 17, and two Israeli women, Nurit Cooper, then 79, and Yocheved Lifshitz , then 85. citing humanitarian reasons. More than 100 hostages were freed in November 2023 during a staggered truce between Israel and Hamas. In exchange, approximately 240 Palestinians detained in Israel were released.
How many hostages were saved?
Eight hostages have been freed during Israeli military operations, including one in the first month of the war, when the army rescued a soldier, Pvt. Ori Megidish, then 19, who had been abducted from her base.
In February 2024, a military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah freed two hostages: Fernando Simon Marman, then 60, and Louis Har, then 70.
In June, the Israeli army freed four people abducted from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023: Noa Argamani, then 26; Almog Meir Jan, then 22 years old; Andrey Kozlov, then 27 years old; and Shlomi Ziv, then 41 years old. Ms Argamani’s case received huge attention after viral footage showed her being taken to Gaza on the back of a motorbike while screaming in despair.
According to Israeli authorities, around 100 Palestinians were killed during the operation, but Gaza authorities estimate the death toll to be more than 270, including 64 children. (None of the tolls distinguished between civilians and combatants.)
In August, the Israeli army rescued Farhan al-Qadi, then 52, a member of Israel’s Bedouin Arab minority, in an operation that killed at least 20 Gazans, local authorities said.
How many hostages died?
According to Israeli authorities, of the 250 hostages, about three dozen were presumed dead at the start of the war.
Some of their bodies were found in Gaza and repatriated, while other prisoners initially believed to be alive were later declared killed.
The findings have raised questions about the extent to which Israel’s intense military operations against Hamas have also endangered prisoners.
The Israeli army accidentally killed several hostages. In December 2023, the army said its soldiers had mistakenly shot and killed three hostages who escaped their captors in Gaza: Yotam Haim, 28, and Alon Shamriz, 26, who had been taken from Kibbutz Kfar Aza; and Samer Talalka, 24, who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Am while at work.
Last July, the Israeli army recovered the bodies of five hostages: two soldiers and three civilians, aged between 20 and 56. They were found in a tunnel in southern Gaza.
Israeli officials said the prisoners were killed during the October 2023 attack and their bodies taken as bargaining chips. The following month, Israeli forces said they had recovered the bodies of six hostages in a Gaza tunnel.
In September, the Israeli army recovered the bodies of six more hostages, aged between 23 and 40, who they said had been killed in captivity. Among them was Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an Israeli-American whose parents spoke at the Democratic National Convention in August.
In March, the family of Itay Chen – a 19-year-old Israeli-born American who served in the Israeli army – said they learned he had been killed on October 7, 2023.
In December, the family of Omer Neutra, 21, an Israeli-American serving in the Israeli army, said they learned he had also been killed that October. His parents spoke at the Republican National Convention in July.
This month, the Israeli army declared Youssef and Hamza Ziyadne dead. Youssef Ziyadne, 53, was taken hostage by a kibbutz with three of his children, including his 23-year-old son Hamza, and two teenagers, Bilal and Aisha, who were freed during the truce in November 2023. The family is part of the Israeli organization Bedouin Arab Minority.
How many Americans hostages are there?
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, in a speech Tuesday, said seven Americans were still held captive.
Edan Alexander and Sagui Dekel-Chen were believed to be alive as of December, according to the American Jewish Committee.
Some of the remaining five were reported dead early in the war. Their bodies remain in Gaza.