When Hamas led an attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, about 1,200 people were killed, and about 250 people were taken to Gaza as hostages, including citizens of Israel, the United States, Britain, Mexico, Thailand and other countries.
Among the hostages are the bodies of 37 people who were killed in the incident, Israeli officials said. Now, about 100 hostages, both alive and dead, are still being held at the site, officials said.
The ceasefire agreement announced on Wednesday between Israel and Hamas will begin with a first phase that will last for six weeks, and will include the release of 33 hostages and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. The deal calls for Hamas to release three female hostages on Day 1, 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 deal still has to be formally approved by the Israeli cabinet.
Here’s a closer look at the hostage situation in Gaza.
How many hostages have been released?
At the beginning of the war, Hamas released four hostages – two Israeli-American women, Judith Raanan, then 59 years old, and her daughter, Natalie Raanan, who was 17 years old at the time, and two Israeli women, Nurit Cooper, then 79 years old, and Yocheved Lifshitz, then 85 years old. explaining human reasons. More than 100 hostages were released in November 2023 during a tense deal between Israel and Hamas. In exchange, about 240 Palestinians held in Israel were released.
How many hostages have been rescued?
Eight hostages have been released by Israeli military operations, including one in the first month of the war, when the military rescued one soldier, Pvt. Ori Megidish, who was 19 years old at the time, was kidnapped from his place.
In February 2024, a military operation in the southern Gazan city of Rafah freed two hostages: Fernando Simon Marman, then 60, and Louis Har, then 70.
In June, Israeli forces freed four hostages at the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, 2023: Noa Argamani, then 26 years old; Almog Meir Jan, then 22 years old; Andrey Kozlov, then 27 years old; and Shlomi Ziv, then 41 years old. The case of Ms. Argamani gained a lot of attention after pictures went viral showing him being taken to Gaza on the back of a motorcycle while crying in despair.
About 100 Palestinians were killed during the operation, according to Israeli authorities, but officials in Gaza put the death toll at more than 270, including 64 children. (There is no separate toll between civilians and soldiers.)
In August, Israeli forces 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 have died?
Of the 250 hostages, about a dozen were presumed dead at the start of the battle, according to Israeli authorities.
Some of their bodies have been found in Gaza and returned to their homes, while others who were captured at the beginning who are believed to be alive are said to have been killed.
The findings have raised questions about the extent to which Israel’s military has targeted Hamas and put hostages at risk.
Israeli soldiers accidentally killed several hostages. In December 2023, the military said its soldiers accidentally shot and killed three hostages fleeing their captors in Gaza: Yotam Haim, 28, and Alon Shamriz, 26, who were taken from Kibbutz Kfar Aza; and Samer Talalka, 24, who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Am while on duty.
Last July, Israeli forces recovered the bodies of five hostages – two soldiers and three civilians, aged 20 to 56 years. They were found in a tunnel in southern Gaza.
Israeli officials say the hostages were killed during the October 2023 attack and their bodies were used as bargaining chips. Next month, the Israeli military said they found the bodies of six hostages in the Gaza Strip.
In September, Israeli forces found the bodies of six other hostages, aged 23 to 40, who they said were 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 found out that he was also killed that October. His parents spoke at the Republican National Convention in July.
This month, the Israeli military said Youssef and Hamza Ziyadne had died. Youssef Ziyadne, 53, was abducted from the kibbutz with his three children, including his son, Hamza, 23, and two younger ones, Bilal and Aisha, who were released during a deal in November 2023. The family is part of the Israeli family. Arab Bedouin minority.
How many American hostages?
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, in a statement on Tuesday, said seven Americans remain in custody.
Edan Alexander and Sagui Dekel-Chen were believed to be alive as of December, according to the American Jewish Council.
Few of the remaining five were declared dead at the beginning of the war. Their bodies remain in Gaza.
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