Israel-Hamas ceasefire: What do we know about the captives held in Gaza?

On October 7, 2023, an attack on southern Israel by Hamas-led Palestinian militants, which included the abduction of approximately 250 people, quickly became a central focus of Israeli society. The hostage issue immediately became a symbol for Israel, used as justification for its brutal war on Gaza, which has resulted in the deaths of over 46,800 Palestinians.

However, the hostage issue has also divided Israeli society. Many, particularly those who oppose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have insisted that the government has not done enough to secure an agreement for the release of the hostages. Now, with a ceasefire agreement in place, the nightmare for the hostages held in Gaza may be coming to an end.

It is believed that approximately 100 Israeli hostages remain in captivity in Gaza, and they are all expected to be released if the agreement between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas is fully implemented. However, not all will be released at once. In the first six-week phase of the agreement, 33 hostages are expected to be released gradually in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. This first phase of released Israeli hostages includes some who are sick or wounded, as well as female soldiers and men over the age of 50.

Egypt has indicated that the first phase of hostage releases will be in exchange for 1,890 Palestinian prisoners. Israel has stated that it will release 95 Palestinians, all women and children, on the first day of the ceasefire on Sunday. The remaining hostages, believed to be all male soldiers, will be released in subsequent phases of the ceasefire agreement in exchange for an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners. An official list of the Israeli hostages to be released in the first phase has not yet been published, and while the identities of the hostages still held in Gaza are known, it is unclear who is still alive.

Indeed, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that the ceasefire would not begin until Israel had received a list of the hostages to be released. Hamas has stated that some of the Israeli hostages have died in Israeli attacks on their holding locations, but videos of some hostages have also been released. While all the remaining hostages are Israeli, some hold dual citizenship, including from the United States, Argentina, and Germany. It is believed that five of the hostages are female soldiers captured in the October 7 raid. Two of those expected to be released in the first phase are Israelis who were captured before October 7 and have been held in Gaza for many years.

While some hostages have been rescued in Israeli military operations, which have resulted in the deaths of dozens of Palestinian civilians, more than 100 – the vast majority of those released from Gaza – were released during a temporary ceasefire in November 2023. In that prisoner exchange, the released hostages were transferred from Palestinian militants to the Red Cross and then to the Israeli military. Israel has prepared medical teams to receive the hostages, and Hagai Levine, head of the medical team for the Hostage Families Forum, expects many to have cardiovascular and respiratory problems after living in underground tunnels for an extended period.

Since the beginning of the war, the hostage issue has been a central concern for Israel and pro-Israel supporters. The release of the hostages has been one of Israel's main war aims, but this could be said to contradict another stated aim, that of utterly defeating Hamas. This is because since the beginning of the war, Hamas has offered to release the hostages as part of a deal to end the war, which the Israeli Prime Minister had previously refused until recently. In fact, Israeli far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has stated that he has used his political power for the past year to prevent any deal from being reached, effectively prioritizing the goal of defeating Hamas and establishing illegal Israeli settlements in Gaza over the exchange release of the hostages. Ben-Gvir is now expected to make good on his promise to resign if the deal is implemented.

However, the return of the hostages is the main demand of many Israelis. Their photos are plastered on posters throughout Israel, and the demand to “bring them home now” is frequently heard at protests. A square in Tel Aviv has been renamed “Hostages Square” and is the focus of demonstrations. Families of the hostages have frequently clashed with members of the Israeli government, and the movement representing them has pledged to continue pushing for the release of the hostages. “We will not allow them (the far-right ministers) to undermine the full implementation of the agreement,” said one person who spoke at a rally in support of the ceasefire agreement on Saturday.