When Hamas led the Oct. 7, 2023, raids into Israel, killing about 1,200 people, about 250 people were taken into Gaza as hostages, including citizens of Israel, the United States, Britain, Mexico, Thailand and other countries.
Among the captives were the bodies of 37 people killed in the attack, Israeli officials said. Now, about 100 hostages, living and dead, are still being held in the enclave, officials say.
The cease-fire deal announced on Wednesday between Israel and Hamas would begin with an initial phase lasting six weeks, and involve the release of 33 hostages and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. The agreement requires 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 ratified by Israel’s cabinet.
Here’s a closer look at the hostage situation in Gaza.
Early in the war, Hamas released 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, about 240 Palestinians held in Israel were released.
Eight hostages have been freed in Israeli military operations, including one in the first month of the war, when the military rescued one soldier, Pvt. Ori Megidish, then 19, who had been abducted from her base.
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.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
