The Palestinian militant group Hamas is preparing to release dozens of remaining hostages today, who have been held in Gaza for almost two years.This release is part of a deal under the current Israel-Hamas ceasefire. In return, Israel will free nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. 48 hostages are still in Gaza. Israeli officials believe that only 20 of them are still alive. Many of these hostages were taken during the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas, which first sparked the war.

Hostages from the Nova Music Festival

Most of the surviving hostages were kidnapped from the Nova Music Festival, which was held near Kibbutz Reim in southern Israel. One of them is 24-year-old Evyatar David, who appeared in a Hamas video in August. He looked extremely weak and thin, and in the video, he said he was being forced to dig his own grave. 

Other hostages include 24-year-old pianist Alon Ohel and 32-year-old Avinatan Or. A video of Or being dragged away with his girlfriend, Noa Argamani, went viral around the world. In the clip, Noa was crying and reaching out to him. Fortunately, she was rescued in June.

Hostages from small communities

Seven hostages were taken from small farming communities, known as kibbutzim, near the Gaza border. These include 28-year-old twins Gali and Ziv Berman and two brothers, Ariel (28) and David (35) Cunio. David was kidnapped along with his wife, Sharon, and their two young daughters. Sharon and the children were released during a short truce in November 2023.

Israeli soldiers and foreigners

Two of the hostages are young Israeli soldiers, 22-year-old Matan Angrest and 20-year-old Nimrod Cohen. They were captured during the fighting on October 7. There are also four foreign nationals among the hostages. Sadly, three of them, a student from Tanzania and two workers from Thailand, have been declared dead. The condition of a Nepalese student named Bipin Joshi is still unknown.

Out of the 48 remaining hostages, 26 have been officially declared dead by Israeli authorities based on intelligence and forensic evidence. Hamas has said that finding some of the bodies may take time because their burial locations are not clearly known. An international team is expected to help in locating them.

One of the deceased had been held since the 2014 Israel-Hamas war. The rest were among the 251 people captured during the October 7 attack. Some of them may have died during the attack itself, while others were killed later in captivity or in Israeli airstrikes. This hostage release is seen as a crucial step towards easing tensions, but many families are still waiting for news to see their loved ones again, dead or alive.