Who are Israeli hostages released and rescued from Gaza?

Yahoo

15-02-2025

Nineteen hostages held by Hamas in Gaza have so far been released as part of a long-awaited ceasefire deal with Israel, which began on 19 January 2025. Five Thai nationals have also been freed under a separate agreement.
Some 15 months after the 7 October 2023 attacks, Israel says 70 of the 251 captives remain unaccounted for, although it believes only 35 of these are still alive.
On Saturday 15 February, Hamas released three hostages after days of fears over the future of the ceasefire.
They are Russian-Israeli Alexander Troufanov, Argentinian-Israeli Yair Horn, and US-Israeli Sagui Dekel-Chen.
Six groups of hostages have been freed since the ceasefire was agreed.
A total of 141 hostages have now been freed from captivity, including 81 Israelis and 24 foreign nationals who were released as part of a previous deal between Israel and Hamas that saw a week-long ceasefire in November 2023.
Last updated on 15 February 2025
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Yair Horn, 46, an Argentinian citizen and construction worker, was in Nir Oz at the time of the attack. He has been released but his brother, Eitan, 38, who works in education and was taken at the same time as Yair, remains in Gaza.
Alexander (Sasha) Troufanov, 29, was taken hostage with his mother Lena, his partner Sapir Cohen, and his grandmother, Irina Tati. All were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz as they spent the Sabbath together. Irina, Sapir and Lena were released in November 2023. Alexander was freed on 15 February.
Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36, an American-Israeli citizen, has been missing since Hamas's attack on Nir Oz. Since his abduction, his wife Avital has given birth to their third child, a girl named Shahar. Sagui was released on 15 February.
Ohad Ben Ami, 55, was kidnapped from Kibbutz Be'eri with his wife, Raz. She was later released by Hamas. Ohad freed on 8 February.
Eli Sharabi, 52, was taken from Be'eri with his brother, Yossi, since confirmed dead. Eli's wife and two daughters were murdered in the attack. Ofir Engel, the boyfriend of Yossi's daughter, Yuval, was also taken, but released on 29 November. Eli was released by Hamas on 8 February.
Or Levy, 34, fled the festival with his wife Eynav, and phoned his mother to say they were hiding in a bomb shelter. Israeli forces later told the family that Eynav's body had been found in the shelter and that Or had been kidnapped. Or was freed from Gaza on 8 February.
Ofer Kalderon, 54, was taken by Hamas from Nir Oz, along with his two children, Erez and Sahar. Two other family members - 80-year-old Carmela Dan and her granddaughter, Noya, 12 - were killed in the attack. In November 2023, Erez and Sahar were released. Ofer was released on 1 February as part of the ceasefire agreement.
Yarden Bibas, 34, was abducted from Nir Oz along with his wife, Shiri, and their two young children, Ariel and Kfir. Hamas has claimed that Shiri, Ariel and Kfir were later killed in an Israeli bombing. In a TV interview in June, then-Israeli minister Benny Gantz indicated that the government knew what had happened to the Bibas family, but said it could not provide details yet. Yarden Bibas was released on 1 February.
Keith Siegel, 65, and his wife Adrienne - often known as Aviva - Siegel, were taken from their home in Kfar Aza. Adrienne was released in November 2023. Keith was freed on 1 February.
Agam Berger, 20, is a soldier who was kidnapped from the Nahal Oz military base. She was seen being taken away in videos released by Hamas and was released on 30 January.
Arbel Yehud, 29, was abducted from Nir Oz along with her partner, 27-year-old Ariel Cunio and his brother, David. She was freed on 30 January, but Ariel and David remain in captivity.
Gadi Moses, 80, was also abducted from Nir Oz, where he worked as an agricultural expert. His partner, Efrat Katz, was killed in the attack. He appeared in a Hamas propaganda video in December 2023, and was also released on 30 January.
The five Thai nationals released under a separate agreement on 30 January were Watchara Sriaoun, Bannawat Seathao, Sathian Suwannakham, Pongsak Thaenna and Surasak Lamnao.
Naama Levy, 20, was filmed being bundled into a jeep, her hands tied behind her back. The footage was released by Hamas and circulated widely on social media. According to her mother, the teenager had just begun her military service. Naama was freed on 25 January.
Daniela Gilboa, 20, was a soldier based at Kibbutz Nahal Oz. In July 2024 a Hamas hostage video was published, in which she appealed to the Israeli government to bring her and the other hostages home. Daniela was released on 25 January.
Karina Ariev, a 20-year-old soldier, was serving at the Nahal Oz army base when she was kidnapped. Her sister Alexandra told the BBC she heard shooting as Karina called her during the attack, and later saw a video showing Karina being taken away in a vehicle. She returned to Israel on 25 January.
Liri Albag, 19, had just started military training as an Army lookout at the Nahal Oz base when Hamas attacked. Her family say that she has managed to pass messages back to them through released hostages. Liri was also released on 25 January.
Emily Damari, 28, who holds dual British-Israeli nationality, was taken hostage from Kibbutz Kfar Aza. She was one of the three Israeli women who became the first of the 33 hostages due to be released by Hamas under the ceasefire deal that took effect on 19 January 2025.
Doron Steinbrecher, 31, a Romanian-Israeli veterinary nurse, was in her apartment in Kibbutz Kfar Aza when Hamas attacked. At 10:30 on 7 October, she sent a voice message to friends: "They've arrived, they have me." Doron was also freed on the first day of the new ceasefire.
The third woman to be released was Romi Gonen, 24, who was ambushed as she tried to escape from the Supernova festival.
On 27 August 2024, the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) rescued Kaid Farhan Elkadi, 52, a father of 11 and grandfather of one, in a "complex operation in the southern Gaza Strip". Mr Elkadi is from a Bedouin village in the Negev desert and had been working as a security guard at Kibbutz Magen when he was abducted.
The IDF rescued Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 22, Andrei Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41, in a daylight raid in central Gaza on 8 June 2024. The IDF said they were freed during a "high-risk, complex mission" from two separate buildings in the Nuseirat area. It happened as scores of Palestinians were killed by Israeli attacks in the same area.
Fernando Marman, 60, and Louis Har, 70, were rescued during fighting in the city of Rafa, in southern Gaza, on 12 February.
Eighty-one Israeli hostages were released during a temporary truce in the last week of November 2023.
Amit Soussana, a 40-year-old lawyer who had been abducted from Kfar Aza. After her release she told the New York Times that she had been sexually assaulted by a guard during her captivity.
Mia Schem, 21, who holds dual French-Israeli nationality. She appeared in the first hostage video released by Hamas saying that she had been abducted from the Supernova festival.
Aisha Zyadna, 16, and her brother Bilal, 18, were released, but their brother Hamza, and their father, Youssef, were killed in captivity.
Nili Margalit, 41, a nurse, who had been kidnapped from her home in Kibbutz Nir Oz.
Shani Goren, 29, who had been taken from Nir Oz and later seen by family members in a video posted by Hamas. The granddaughter of Uruguayan nationals, she was granted citizenship following her abduction.
Ilana Gritzewsky 30, had been taken hostage from Nir Oz along with her partner, Matan Zanguaker, who remains a hostage.
Raya Rotem, 54, was released on 29 November 2023, a few days after her daughter Hila Rotem Shoshani, 13. They had been kidnapped from Kibbutz Be'eri.
Itay Regev, 18, and his sister, Maya Regev, 21, who had been taken from the Supernova music festival.
Amit Shani, 16, the only member of his family taken when Hamas gunmen broke into safe room at his home in Kibbutz Be'eri.
Also taken from Be'eri was Ofir Engel, 18, an Israeli-Dutch national, who was visiting his girlfriend, Yuval, when Hamas arrived. He was abducted along with Yuval's father, Yossi Sharabi, who was later killed in captivity by an Israeli airstrike. Yossi's brother, Eli Sharabi, was released by Hamas on 8 February 2025 after 15 months in captivity.
Gali Tarshansky, 13, had also been kidnapped from Be'eri. Her brother, Lior, was killed in the attack.
Yarden Roman-Gat, a 36-year-old German-Israeli citizen, who was abducted from Be'eri. Her husband Alon, and three-year-old Gefen managed to escape.
Raz Ben Ami, 57, had been captured at Kibbutz Be'eri along with her husband Ohad, who remains a captive.
Moran Stella Yanai, 40, was released on the same day in November 2023. In an interview with the BBC in April 2024, she described how she had coped with her 54-day ordeal.
Liat Atzili, 49, a dual US-Israeli citizen was also released.
Mia Leimberg, 17, her mother Gabriela, 59, and Mia's aunt Clara Marman, 63 were all released after being kidnapped from Nir Yitzhak.
Sapir Cohen, 29, had been kidnapped along with her partner, Sasha Troufanov (who remains a hostage), and his mother and grandmother, Lena Troufanov, 50, and Irena Tati, 73. Both older women held dual Russian-Israeli nationality, and Hamas said their release was a "tribute" to Russian President Vladimir Putin - who refused to condemn the group following the 7 October attacks - and not part of the deal with Israel.
Hamas also released another Russian-Israeli on the same grounds. Roni Krivoi, 25, was working as a sound engineer at the Supernova music festival when he was kidnapped.
Sharon Aloni Cunio, 34, and her three-year-old twin daughters Ema and Yuly, were released, but David Cunio, Sharon's husband and father of the two girls, remains in Gaza.
The four were kidnapped from Nir Oz along with Sharon's sister, Daniele Aloni, and her six-year-old daughter Emilia. Both were also released.
Or Yaakov, 16, and his younger brother Yagil, who turned 13 during captivity, were freed, but their father, Yair Yaakov, was killed in the attack. Yair's partner Meirav Tal, 53, was also released.
Rimon Buchshtav Kirsht, 36, was taken hostage along with her husband Yagev. She was freed, but he died while being held hostage in Gaza.
Siblings Sahar Kalderon, 16, and Erez, 12, were released after being taken by Hamas from Nir Oz.
Karina Engel-Bart, 52, and her two daughters Mika Engel, 18, and Yuval Engel, 11, were released.
Eitan Yahalomi, 12, was freed but his father, Ohad, who was shot and injured as he tried to defend their family home in Nir Oz, is believed to be a hostage.
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Emily Hand, 9, was released after being held in Gaza without any of her family. The Irish-Israeli girl, who went missing from Be'eri, turned nine while she was a hostage.
Doron Katz Asher, 34, and her two daughters Raz, four, and Aviv, two, were released after being taken captive near the Gaza border.
Hagar Brodutch, 40, was released along with her children Oria, 4, Yuval, 8, and Offri,10. All four had been abducted from their home at Kibbutz Kfar Aza.
Also released with the Brodutch family was four-year-old Israeli-American Avigail Idan, whose parents had been attacked and killed.
Ohad Munder-Zichri, 9, his mother, Keren Munder, 54, and his grandmother Ruthi Munder, 78, were kidnapped from Nir Oz. Ohad's ninth birthday took place while he was in Gaza. Another family member, Avraham Munder, was killed in captivity.
Noam Or, 17, and his sister Alma, 13, were released on 25 November. Their brother, Liam Or, 18, was released a few days later. They had been taken from their home in Be'eri. The body of Yonat, the children's mother, was identified among the 120 people killed at the kibbutz. In May 2024 Be'eri announced that the children's father, Dror - who was initially thought to be a hostage - had also been killed in the attack.
Sisters Dafna, 15, and Ela Elyakim, 8, were released after being taken from their home in Nir Oz. They were part of a family group whose capture was livestreamed by the attackers.
Chen Almog-Goldstein, 48, and her children Tal, 8, Gal, 11, and Agam, 17, were released. Chen's husband, Nadav, and their 20-year-old daughter, Yam, were killed during Hamas's attack on Kibbutz Kfar Aza.
Tamar Metzger, 78, was freed but her husband Yoram was killed in Gaza. His body was later recovered by Israeli troops and brought home.
Ditza Heiman, 84, had been abducted from the safe room of her house in Nir Oz. A former social worker, she was one of the Kibbutz's founding members. Her late husband, Zvi Shdaimah had come to the UK on the Kindertransport, the organised rescue of children from Nazi-controlled Europe.
Ofelia Adit Roitman, 77, is a former head teacher who had been taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz by Hamas.
Ada Sagi, who turned 75 while in captivity, had been abducted from her home in Kibbutz Nir Oz.
Noralin "Nataly" Babadila - or Noralin Agojo in some reports - is 60, and had been visiting Kibbutz Nirim to celebrate the community's 70th anniversary when she was kidnapped by Hamas. Her partner, Gideon, was murdered that day.
Hanna Katzir, 77, had abducted from Nir Oz, along with her son, Elad Katzir, 47. Elad's body was recovered by Israeli forces in Khan Younis in April 2024.
Channah Peri, 79, was taken hostage along with her son Nadav Popplewell, 51. Nadav's body was recovered by Israeli forces from an underground tunnel in the Khan Younis area in August 2024.
Dr Shoshan Haran, 67, had been kidnapped from her home in Kibbutz Be'eri. She was released along with her daughter Adi Shoham, 38, and Adi's children, Nave, eight, and Yahel, three. Dr Haran's husband, Avshalom - an economist and dual German-Israeli citizen - was killed in the Hamas attack, while Adi's husband, Tal Shoham, 38, remains in captivity.
Also released were Sharon Avigdori, 52, a drama therapist, and her daughter Noam, 12, who are relatives of Dr Haran and were kidnapped from Be'eri at the same time.
Yafa Adar, 85, had been kidnapped from Nir Oz. Her grandson Tamir, 38, was killed while defending the kibbutz as part of its emergency squad.
Shiri Weiss, 53 and her daughter Noga, 18, had been taken from Be'eri. Shiri is an accountant for the kibbutz's agricultural association. Her husband (and Noga's father), Ilan, was killed during the attack.
Adrienne Aviva Seigel, 62, had been taken from her home in Kfar Aza along with her 64-year-old husband Keith, who is still among the hostages.
Margalit Mozes, 78, had been abducted from her home in Kibbutz Nir Oz.
Adina Moshe, 72, had been kidnapped from Nir Oz. Her husband Said Moshe was killed in the attack.
After her release, Elma Avraham, 84, was airlifted to Soroka hospital in Beersheba in a serious condition. She had lived at Kibbutz Nahal Oz for nearly 50 years before she was kidnapped, a spokesman for the community said.
What we know about Israel-Hamas hostage deal
Prior to the deal struck between Israel and Hamas, four hostages were released, and another was rescued by Israeli forces:
Two Americans - Judith Raanan and her daughter Natalie Raanan - were released on Friday 20 October 2023
Two elderly women - Nurit Cooper and Yocheved Lifschitz - were freed on Monday 23 October 2023
An Israeli soldier - Ori Megidish - was freed during ground operations in Gaza on 29 October 2023
Twenty foreign workers were released during the temporary truce of November 2023. Nineteen of these were from Thailand.
Boonthom Pankhong, 39, and his girlfriend, Natthawaree Mulakan, were released by Hamas on 24 November. Boonthom's sister Urai Chantachart told BBC Thai that the family was "overjoyed" at the news.
It was initially feared Wichai Kalapat was among the Thai nationals killed in the Hamas raid until his girlfriend received word that he was being held hostage in Gaza. She told the BBC she was "so happy" because she did not think he would be among those who were released.
Seven other hostages were also released on the same day. Their names are Uthai Thunsri, Buddee Saengboon, Bancha Kongmanee, Withoon Phumee, Mongkhol Phajuabboon, Santi Boonphrom, and Uthai Sangnuan.
Natthaphon Onkaew, Khomkrit Chombua were among the four Thai nationals released on 25 November, according to the country's prime minister, Srettha Thavisin.
Anucha Angkaew was also freed. His wife, Wanida Maarsa, told BBC Thai that her husband, who had been working on an avocado farm for almost two years, was one of those taken captive by Hamas militants.
The fourth person released was Manee Jirachat, who travelled to Israel for work four years ago. He was seized by Hamas along with five other workers who had taken cover together, according to a Thai TV interview with his father, who had spoken to survivors.
It was announced on 26 November that Wichian Temthong, Surin Kesungnoen and Phonsawan Pinakalo had been freed.
Two more Thai hostages were released on Tuesday 28 November - O-wat Suriyasri and Pattanayuth Tonsokri - and four were released the next day. Their names are Piboon Rattanil, Kong Saelao, Jakrapan Sikena and Chalermchai Sangkaew.
Gelienor "Jimmy" Leano Pacheco, 33, from the Philippines, was also released as part of the same deal. The father of three had been working in Israel as a caregiver to 80-year-old Amita Ben Zvi, who was killed in the attack on Nir Oz.