PARIS | After almost a year of captivity in the Gaza Strip, the fate of the 64 hostages presumed alive, Hamas’ main bargaining chip to obtain a cease-fire and the release of Palestinian prisoners, is uncertain, overshadowed by the litany of confirmed deaths and bodies repatriated.
52 men, 10 women and 2 children
On October 7, 2023, during Hamas’ unprecedented attack on southern Israel, 251 people or captured remains were taken to Gaza.
Of this total, 117 people, mainly women, children and foreign workers, found their freedom, mainly during the only truce in the conflict which lasted a week at the end of November.
As of September 24, almost a year after the Hamas attack on Israel and the start of the war, 97 people are still held captive, including 64 presumed alive, 33 having been declared dead by the Israeli army.
Among the hostages still believed to be alive, 57 are Israelis, including at least 20 dual nationals with another nationality, six are Thai and one is Nepalese.
Fifty-two hostages are men and ten women, including five soldiers. A total of eleven soldiers remain captive.
Two children, brothers Kfir and Ariel Bibas, kidnapped at eight months and four years respectively, remain presumed alive, as well as their parents Shiri and Yarden Bibas.
litany of the dead
Since the end of the truce on the 1stis December 2023, only seven other hostages found freedom, during rescue operations by the Israeli army.
The latest is Kaid Farhan Alkadi, released on August 27 in the south of the Gaza Strip.
In the absence of proof of life, it is not certain that the 64 hostages presumed alive are still alive.
Hamas announced on August 12 that its fighters had “killed a hostage” and “wounded two female hostages” in “incidents”, without naming them.
Previously, the Palestinian Islamist movement had announced several times the deaths of hostages, which Israel has not confirmed, notably those of Kfir Bibas (one year old), his older brother Ariel (five years old), and their mother.
Many bodies taken to Gaza
Some of the deceased hostages were already dead when they were taken to Gaza on October 7, 2023. They had been killed during the Hamas attack. This is particularly the case for ten soldiers.
At least 28 other hostages captured alive have died in Gaza. Three of them – Yotam Haïm (28 years old), Samer al-Talalqa (25 years old) and Alon Lulu Shamriz (26 years old) – were shot dead by mistake by the Israeli army on December 15, 2023.
The Israeli army accuses Hamas of having coldly executed six others at the end of August: Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Ori Danino, found dead by soldiers in a tunnel in Rafah (south of the Gaza Strip).
Nir Oz et Nova
Most of the suspected hostages still alive in Gaza were taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz or the Nova music festival.
Nir Oz was already the kibbutz with the most hostages on October 7. It was the only community with more hostages (more than 70) than deaths (more than 40), including foreign workers.
As for the Nova rave party, in which more than 3,000 people participated, it took place between the Kibbutz Réïm and Beeri, on the edge of the Gaza Strip.
In total, at least 370 people were massacred there and 43 people were kidnapped, of whom only nine have returned alive to date.
Families separated by releases
On October 7, entire families were taken to Gaza. In these families, the November 2023 truce combined, for the released hostages, relief and the heartbreak of leaving relatives behind.
This is particularly the case of the Franco-Israeli teenagers from Nir Oz, Eitan Yahalomi, whose father Ohad is still captive, and Erez and Sahar Kalderon, whose father Ofer remains held hostage in Gaza.
