Who Are The Remaining Gaza Hostages?

More than 10 months after Hamas operatives attacked Israel and took 251 people hostage, 71 people believed to be alive are still being held in Gaza, according to an AFP database.

A further 34 the Israeli military says are dead also remain in the Palestinian territory.

The hostages are key bargaining chips for Hamas, the Palestinian group which rules the Gaza Strip, as it negotiates a truce with Israel.

After the death of hostage Avraham Munder, 79, in captivity in the Gaza Strip was announced by his kibbutz and the Israeli army repatriated his body and five other bodies, AFP takes stock of the situation.

57 men, 12 women, two children

Of the original 251 hostages taken on October 7, 116, mainly women and children, have been released, mostly during a week-long truce in November when they were exchanged for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

While 71 are still held hostage and believed to be alive, the Israeli army says 34 others are confirmed to be dead.

The military has also repatriated the bodies of 30 hostages who died either in Gaza or were killed on October 7 and whose bodies were taken to the territory.

Of the 71 who may still be alive, 64 are Israelis (some of whom have more than one nationality), six are Thai nationals and one is a Nepalese national.

They comprise 57 men, 12 women, and two children. Eleven are military personnel.

Death after death

Since the end of the truce on December 1, 2023, only six hostages have been freed alive, all during operations by the Israeli army.

There is uncertainty as to the fates of the 71 hostages who are not confirmed dead.

The armed wing of Hamas said on August 12 that its fighters had shot and killed an Israeli hostage and wounded two others, both women, “in two separate incidents” in Gaza.

Before that Hamas had announced on several occasions the death of hostages which have not been confirmed by Israel.

They include the youngest hostage Kfir, who was eight and a half months old when he was kidnapped from Nir Oz kibbutz. He was taken alongside his mother Shiri Bibas, 32, and his then four-year-old brother Ariel.

The Israeli army said on August 20 it had retrieved the bodies of six hostages from Gaza’s southern area of Khan Yunis, including Munder. The others, all previously announced as dead, were Yagev Buchshtab, Alexander Dancyg, Yoram Metzger, Nadav Popplewell, and Chaim Perry.

Bodies taken to Gaza 

More than half of the dead hostages, 35 out of 64, were already dead when they were taken by Hamas operatives to Gaza on October 7. They include 10 Israeli soldiers.

The 29 other hostages died in the territory. Three of them were killed by mistake by the Israeli army on December 15, 2023.

Festival, kibbutz survivors

Most of the surviving hostages in Gaza were taken during the Hamas attack on the Nova music festival and the Nir Oz kibbutz.

At least 22 people abducted from the festival are thought to be alive and still being held in Gaza.

Only nine of the 43 hostages taken from Nova have been released while 12 have died.

At Nir Oz kibbutz, of the at least 74 hostages who were taken on October 7, more than half (38) have been released alive while 20 are still in Gaza and believed to be alive. The remaining 16 are dead.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)