More than a year after Hamas attacked southern Israel on 7 October 2023 – killing around 1,200 people and taking another 250 captive – 94 hostages still remain, although Israel believe around a third are dead.
The official Israeli figure for the total number of people still held in Gaza is 98, although this also includes four who were taken in 2014 and 2015, with two of those believed to be dead. A ceasefire deal announced on Wednesday promises the release of the hostages held by Hamas and other Palestinian militant factions in Gaza.
Thirty-three hostages are set to be released over the next six weeks, while the remainder, including male soldiers, are to be released in a second phase that will be negotiated during the first.
Hamas has said it will not release the remaining captives without a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal.
However, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Thursday that his Cabinet will not meet to approve the agreement until Hamas backs down from what he called a “last minute crisis” – accusing Hamas of backtracking on the deal. Hamas has denied this and Mr Netanyahu is no stranger to posturing.
The Independent details who some of these remaining hostages are, below:
Emily Damari (28)
The 28-year-old dual British-Israeli national was kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Aza. Her mother Mandy told a memorial event held in London on 6 October that the hostages who had been released the previous November had said to her that they had had contact with her daughter while in captivity.
Alexander (Sasha) Troufanov (28)
The 28-year-old was captured alongside three other members of his family from Kibbutz Nir Oz. His mother Lena, his partner Sapir Cohen and his grandmother Irina Tati were all released the month following Hamas’ 7 October attack.
Ariel Cunio (27) and Arbel Yahud (29)
The couple were both taken hostage from Nir Oz. Ariel’s brother Eitan Cunio managed to escape from captivity. Eitan went on to tell the Jewish Chronicle that “We are in a horror movie” was his last message from the 27-year-old.
David Cunio (34)
The 34-year-old is another of Ariel’s brothers and was also abducted from Nir Oz. His wife Sharon Aloni Cunio was released in November 2023, along with their twin daughters Ema and Yuly, three. Meanwhile, Sharon’s sister Daniele Aloni and her six-year-old daughter Emilia were also both freed then.
Doron Steinbrecher (31)
The 31-year-old veterinary nurse was taken from her apartment in Kibbutz Kfar Aza. She sent a voice message to friends saying “They’ve arrived, they have me” at around 10.30 on 7 October.
Naama Levy (20)
The 20-year-old was seen with her hands tied behind her back being bundled into a jeep in footage released by Hamas that was widely circulated on social media. Naama had just started her military service, according to her mother.
Ohad Ben Ami (55)
The 55-year-old and his wife Raz were both captured from Be’eri, although she was later freed.
Gali and Ziv Berman (27)
The 27-year-old twins were abducted from Kfar Aza, witih Ziv messaging a friend during Hamas’ attack. The brothers’ family said they had been told by the Israeli military that the pair are being held in Gaza.
Shlomo Mansour (86)
The Iraq-born 86-year-old was kidnapped from Kibbutz Kissufim. The chicken coop manager lived and worked there. Meanwhile, his wife Mazal managed to flee.
Daniela Gilboa (20)
The 20-year-old soldier was based at Kibbutz Nahal Oz. She featured in a video published by Hamas in which she pleaded with the Israeli government to bring all the hostages home.
Matan Angrest (21)
The 21-year-old Israeli soldier was on duty on 7 October. It is assumed that he is still in Gaza.
Other hostages include:
Eli Sharabi (52)
Agam Berger (20)
Edan Alexander (20)
Matan Zanguaker (24)
Eitan Horn (38) and his brother Yair (46)
Oded Lifshitz (84)
Keith Siegel (65)
Bipin Joshi (23)
Omer Neutra (22)
Itzik Elgarat (69)
Gadi Moses (80)
Nimrod Cohen (20)
Tsachi Idan (50)
Yarden Bibas (34)
Karina Ariev (20)
Ofer Kalderon (53)
Omri Miran (47)
Liri Albag (19)
Ohad Yahalomi (50)
Tal Shoham (39)
Sagui Dekel-Chen (36)
A number of people were abducted from the Supernova music festival in southern Israel. Among them:
Omer Shem Tov (21)
Omer made a getaway in his car but was captured when he tried to rescue his friends, Maya and Itai Regev. All three were taken captive – the Regev siblings were released in November 2023.
Avinatan Or (31)
Avinatan was kidnapped along with his girlfriend, Noa Argamani. She was rescued from central Gaza in June, and revealed that they had been separated.
Rom Braslavski (20)
Rom was working on security for the festival. According to an account published by Hostages and Missing Families Forum, he was trying to rescue an injured person in the attack when he was caught in a volley of fire. He has not been heard from since.
Bar Kuperstein (23)
Bar‘s family say they identified him in a video of Israeli prisoners, posted by Hamas. Since then, they have had no further information.
Other Supernova abductees:
Yosef Ohana (24)
Guy Gilboa-Dalal (23)
Eitan Mor (24)
Alon Ohel (23)
Maxim Kharkin (36)
Segev Kalfon (26)
Romi Gonen (24)
Eliya Cohen (27)
Elkana Bohbot (35)
Omer Wenkert (23)
Evyatar David (23)
Or Levy (34)
Thailand’s government says that six of its citizens are still being held hostage in Gaza: Watchara Sriuan, Bannawat Seatho, Sathian Suwannakham, Nattapong Pinta, Pongsak Tanna and Surasak Lamnau
Hostages believed dead
In November 2023, the bodies of 19-year-old soldier Noa Marciano and 65-year-old Yehudit Weiss were found by Israeli troops in buildings close to al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, according to the military.
The next month, the Israeli military said soldiers had mistakenly killed three hostages in northern Gaza who had escaped from captivity. They were named as Yotam Haim, 28, Samer Talalka, 22, and Alon Shamriz, 26. The military expressed “deep remorse”.
In August last year, the Israeli military announced that the bodies of Abraham Munder, Alex Dancyg, Yagev Buchshtab, Chaim Peri, Yoram Metzger and Nadav Popplewell had been found and returned to Israel. They said the six had died while held by Hamas.
Less then a month later, the Israeli military said troops had recovered the bodies of six hostages: Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Master Sgt Ori Danino. The military said it believed Hamas had killed them shortly before soldiers reached them.
Earlier this year, the body of Yousef Zyadna, a 53-year-old Bedouin dairy farmer, was found by the Israeli military in an underground tunnel in the southern Rafah area. The military later said his son Hamza, 22, had been killed in Hamas captivity, after a forensic examination of remains. Yousef’s other children, Bilal, 19, and Aisha, 17 had also been abducted but were released in November 2023.
