After two years of war, a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas came into effect Friday at noon local time, clearing the way for a partial withdrawal of troops and a full suspension of hostilities in Gaza within 24 hours. Israeli and foreign hostages held there are to be freed no later than 72 hours after that – by Monday evening. In return, hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel will be released.
Read moreDoes Israel and Hamas signing the Gaza ceasefire deal mean the war is over?
The war in Gaza began after Hamas-led militants stormed through Israeli towns and the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and capturing 251 hostages.
Dozens of captives were rescued or released over the past two years. The Israeli government says that there are still 20 hostages alive in Gaza. They are:
This young Israeli soldier was captured on October 7 from his tank at the Nahal Oz military base on the Gaza border.
News from former hostages who were held with Angrest in the underground tunnels of the Gaza Strip is disturbing. In April 2025, his mother, Anat Angrest, told The Times of Israel that former hostages had told her that Matan was “starving and being held in a little cage in the dark”.
“He doesn’t see the daylight,” she said. “He is exposed to torture and violence and never sees the Red Cross.”
In a Hamas propaganda video released on March 7, Matan appeared very weak and showed signs of mistreatment.
“Matan’s face is not symmetric anymore,” Anat Angrest told the Times. “His hand that was badly injured wasn’t treated, and we know it doesn’t function anymore. He will be disabled his whole life”.
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Gali Berman and Ziv Berman, 28
These twin brothers were abducted from the Kfar Aza kibbutz.
Their family had no news of them until February 2025, after some 30 hostages were released as part of a previous ceasefire, when they were told that the twins were alive but being held separately and in poor health.
In a statement last month, the family said: “We know you don’t understand how you can still be there, or when you will be free again. We promise you this will happen – you will return to the safe embrace of your mother. Hold on just a little longer, survive, and dream of a happy ending.”
Married and father of a five-year-old boy, this Israeli-Colombian national was kidnapped by Hamas from the Nova festival near the Reim kibbutz, where he was working as a logistics manager.
His wife and mother were able to speak to him on the phone before losing contact with him. Elkana told them he was helping to evacuate the wounded, according to The Times of Israel. A few hours later, his family discovered a video of him posted by Hamas, in which he appeared tied up on the ground, his face covered in blood.
In two Hamas propaganda videos released in March and May, Elkana appeared very weak, lying down, unable to speak. Another hostage, Yosef-Chaim Ohana, spoke on his behalf – prompting his relatives to alert the leaders of many countries, notably France, to Elkana’s worrying physical and mental state.
On Tuesday, his aunt, Ruth Amiel, expressed concern on i24 News that she had not heard news of her nephew “for several months”.
“In our hearts, we know he is there, that he is alive. We hope he will not lose hope and confidence and that he knows we are doing everything we can to see him return to us,” she said.
Read moreIsraelis mourn victims of the Nova festival massacre two years after October 7 attacks
A security guard at the Nova music festival, Rom also stayed behind to help others during the Hamas attack, his family told NBC Los Angeles.
According to a testimony published by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, he was trying to rescue someone injured in the attack when he was hit by a volley of gunfire. The family haven’t heard from him since.
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Ariel Cunio, 28, and David Cunio, 35
The two brothers were abducted during the attack on Kibbutz Nir Oz – the closest community to Gaza – along with several members of their family.
Eitan Cunio, another brother who managed to escape the Hamas attackers, told the Jewish Chronicle that Ariel’s last message said: “We are in a horror movie.”
Ariel’s partner, Arbel Yehud, was released on January 30, 2025 under a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel.
David Cunio’s wife, Sharon Aloni Cunio, and their three-year-old twin daughters, Ema and Yuly, were released in November 2023.
Sharon’s sister, Daniele Aloni, and her six-year-old daughter, Emilia, were both released the same month.
On the morning of the attack, Evyatar sent a message to his family from the Nova festival to say that the event was under attack. His family claims to have later received a text message from an unknown number containing a video of Evyatar handcuffed on the floor in a dark room.
According to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, he is still held captive by Hamas in Gaza.
Evyatar David “is a person full of life, he is a very kind soul”, his brother Ilay David told ABC News on Sunday.
In August, Hamas released a video of Evyatar David in captivity, raising concerns about his health.
“He was emaciated, skin and bones” – recalling pictures from 80 years ago at the end of the Holocaust, Ilay David said. “We know that the only thing keeping Evyatar alive is his faith – and you can see it in his eyes.”
Kidnapped at the Nova festival with his childhood friend Evyatar David, he appeared briefly in a propaganda video released by Hamas in September.
“It’s so hard, missing him all day every day,” his brother Gal Gilboa-Dalal, who was also at the festival but escaped the attack, told The Guardian. “And as time goes by it’s getting harder and harder [to bear], and harder and harder to see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
A Russian-Israeli citizen and father of a young daughter, he had left Ukraine to settle in Israel, according to his family.
He was abducted at the Nova festival, which he had been invited to at the last minute. His mother had heard nothing about him until last May. In a propaganda video released by Hamas, Herkin appears covered in bandages, and, speaking under duress, suggests that he had been wounded in an Israeli bombing raid.
An Argentine citizen, he was abducted from Nir Oz kibbutz along with his brother Yair, who was 46 at the time of the attack, and released last February.
Eitan worked in education and helped welcome new arrivals to Israel, according to The Jerusalem Post.
An agriculture student, this Nepalese national was in Israel to continue his studies. According to The Times of Israel, he was kidnapped from Alumim kibbutz, where he was doing an internship.
“We just want him back,” his sister told the newspaper in August. “It‘s too much for me and my family.”
On October 7, 2023, he attempted to flee the Nova festival by crossing the motorway, but was captured by Hamas. According to his mother, he worked in a bakery and was studying finance.
His family said they were very concerned for his safety, noting that he already suffered from severe anxiety before his abduction.
Bar Abraham Kuperstein was working at the Nova festival when the attack took place and tried to help save lives and evacuate the wounded when he was taken hostage, his family told The Jerusalem Post.
His relatives said they identified him in a video of Israeli prisoners that was made public by Hamas last April, but say they have received no further information since then.
Kidnapped from the Nahal Oz kibbutz, he appeared in a Hamas propaganda video in April, although the date the video was made was not specified.
His family said they desperately wanted him to be reunited with his wife, Lishay, and their two young daughters, Roni and Alma.
“Roni just celebrated her fourth birthday – a second without her father,” his brother-in-law, Moshe Lavi, told NPR in August. “Alma is two years old. Never celebrated a birthday with her father. He was kidnapped when she was six months old. I want to see him back with Lishay, my sister, with his father, Danny, and his siblings.”
Eitan Abraham Mor was a security guard at the Nova festival. He was seen helping others to safety, according to The Times of Israel.
In June 2024, his father told Israeli radio that the “last sign of life” the family had had of Eitan was four months earlier, without giving further details.
This young soldier, who lived on a military base near the border with Gaza, was 18 years old when he was taken, barefoot and without his glasses, according to The Jerusalem Post.
“He always said I was his best friend. We had a rare connection,” his mother, Herut Nimrodi, told the paper. “I pray for the chance to have moments with him again. The emptiness in my heart is indescribable.”
According to The Jerusalem Post, Yosef-Chaim Ohana was at the Nova festival to celebrate his departure for the United States to begin training as a pilot. A friend who was there that day told his mother that Ohana stayed behind to help people escape the gunfire before fleeing himself.
Several weeks after the attack, the Israeli army informed his relatives that he was being held prisoner in Gaza.
Kidnapped at the Nova festival, this Israeli-German pianist appears briefly in a Hamas propaganda video released in September, wearing a black T-shirt and urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to secure the release of all hostages still being held.
Alon’s mother, Idit Alon, told the Jerusalem Post that seeing the video gave her hope: “There’s still something of him, his smile – in one moment it gives a lot of hope.”
Avinatan Or and his partner Noa Argamani were abducted during the festival and immediately separated. Noa Argamani was released in June 2024.
Avinatan’s relatives received news of him for the first time in March 2025.
“We always knew he was alive. Now it’s officially confirmed,” his brother Moshe said at the time. Since then, no further information has been received.
Matan Zangauker was kidnapped in Nir Oz kibbutz along with his girlfriend, 31-year-old Lana Gritzewsky. A Mexican national, she was released on November 30, 2023 after 55 days in captivity.
In an op-ed published by USA Today, she said she could not focus on her recovery while her boyfriend remained in captivity.
‘My Matan, stay strong,’ his mother, Einav Zangauker, wrote in an open letter to her son published in the daily Haaretz on Monday. “I will never give up on you.”
Hamas has indicated that recovering the bodies of the hostages who died in captivity may take longer than releasing those who are alive.
The International Committee of the Red Cross Friday said all releases of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners called for in the Gaza ceasefire agreement should be carried out “safely and with dignity”. Previous transfers of hostages in the war have sparked anger in Israel, following chaotic scenes during the handovers as Hamas paraded hostages before crowds. The Geneva-based humanitarian organisation has said it had facilitated the release of 148 hostages and 1,931 detainees since October 2023. It has also facilitated the return of human remains.
They 26 hostages whose deaths have been confirmed have been identified as: Itay Chen, Inbar Hayman, Arie Zalmanowicz, Lior Rudaeff, Eliyahu Margalit, Meny Godard, Amiram Cooper, Tamir Adar, Muhammad Al-Atarash, Sahar Baruch, Uriel Baruch, Ronen Engel, Hadar Goldin, Ran Gvili, Tal Haimi, Guy Illouz, Eitan Levi, Joshua Loitu Mollel, Omer Neutra, Dror Oz, Oz Daniel, Daniel Peretz, Yossi Sharabi, Asaf Hamami, Sonthaya Oakkharasri and Sudthisak Rinthalak.
This article was adapted from the original in French.
