After a year of captivity in the Gaza Strip, the fate of the sixty-four hostages presumed alive is uncertain. It is overshadowed by the litany of confirmed deaths and repatriated bodies. They are Hamas’ main bargaining chip for obtaining a ceasefire and the release of Palestinian prisoners.
On October 7, 2023, during the Hamas attack on southern Israel, the commandos of the Palestinian Islamist movement took 251 people or remains to Gaza. Of this total, 117 people, mainly women, children and foreign workers, regained their freedom, mainly during the only truce in the conflict, which lasted a week at the end of November.
As of October 3, 97 people are still held captive there, including 64 presumed alive, 33 having been declared dead by the IDF. Among the hostages still presumed alive, 57 are Israelis, including at least 20 dual nationals, six are Thai and one Nepalese. 52 are men and ten are women. 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. Hamas announced the deaths of the two children and that of their mother, which Israel has not confirmed.
Only seven hostages released since December 1
Since the end of the truce on December 1, 2023, only seven other hostages have 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 “injured two female hostages” in “incidents”, without naming them.
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 for 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 ).
kibbutz Nir Oz and Nova music festival
Most of the suspected hostages still alive in Gaza were taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz or the Nova music festival. Nir Oz is the kibbutz with the most hostages. It was the only community with more (more than 70) than deaths (more than 40), including foreign workers.
The Nova rave party, attended by more than 3,000 people, was held on the edge of the Gaza Strip. In total, at least 370 people were massacred and 43 kidnapped, of whom only nine have returned alive to date.
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