Hamas hostages: Stories of the people taken from Israel

Eitan Horn remains in Gaza after his brother, Yair, was released on 15 February

More than 15 months after the Hamas-led attacks on Israel that triggered the war in Gaza, a ceasefire agreement came into effect, leading to the release of some hostages held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

On Thursday 20 February, Hamas released the bodies of four Israeli hostages who were taken alive during the 7 October attacks.

It is the first time the group has returned dead captives since the ceasefire began in January.

The bodies were those of Shiri Bibas, 33, her two children, Ariel, 5, and Kfir, 2, and Oded Lifschitz, 84, a veteran peace activist.

Forensic testing showed the fourth body that Hamas claimed was Shiri Bibas was an unknown woman from Gaza. Shiri's body was later identified and released to the Red Cross on 21 February.

A couple of days later, Hamas released six hostages alive - four of whom were kidnapped during the 2023 attack as well as two men who had been held captive in Gaza for more than a decade.

During the first six-week phase of a three-stage ceasefire, a total of 33 hostages should be freed in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israel.

Talks on progressing to the next phase of the deal - under which the remaining hostages would be released and the war would end permanently - have not yet begun.

• What do we know about the Gaza ceasefire deal?

These are the stories of those hostages who are still being held, which have either been confirmed by the BBC or credibly reported.

This list is updated and names may change, as some people feared kidnapped are confirmed to have been killed or released.

Last updated on 22 February 2025.

Ariel Cunio, 27, was abducted in the same attack on Nir Oz. Eitan Cunio, Ariel's brother who escaped Hamas, told the Jewish Chronicle that his last message from Ariel said: "We are in a horror movie." His partner Arbel Yehud, 29, was freed on 30 January 2025 under the ceasefire agreement.

David Cunio, 34, another of Ariel's brothers, was also kidnapped from Nir Oz. David's wife Sharon Aloni Cunio and their three-year-old twin daughters Ema and Yuly were released in November 2023. Sharon's sister Daniele Aloni, and her six-year-old daughter Emilia were both released the same month.

Twin brothers Gali and Ziv Berman, 27, were taken from Kfar Aza. Ziv was messaging a friend as the attack happened. Their family say the IDF has told them the brothers are being held in Gaza.

IDF soldier Matan Angrest, 21, was on duty on 7 October and is presumed to be in Gaza.

Edan Alexander, 20, is an Israeli-US citizen who volunteered to join the Israeli army. He was serving near the Gaza border at the time of Hamas's attack. Edan's family said they had been told by Israeli officials that he had been taken to Gaza as a hostage.

Matan Zanguaker, 24, was taken with his partner Ilana Gritzewsky, 31, from Nir Oz. Ilana, a Mexican national, was released on 30 November 2023.

Bipin Joshi was studying agriculture in Israel

Eitan Horn, 38, an Argentinian citizen, was taken with his brother Yair, 46, from Nir Oz at the time of the attack. Eitan works in education and remains in Gaza while Yair was released on 15 February.

Bipin Joshi, 23, a Nepalese agriculture student, is believed to have been taken from Kibbutz Alumim. The Joshi family say they received confirmation from Israeli intelligence that his phone had been located in Gaza.

Itzik Elgarat, 69, was kidnapped from Nir Oz, and reportedly shot in the hand during the attack. His phone was traced to Gaza after the attack. Israel said Itzik was on the list of 33 hostages to be released.

Nimrod Cohen, 20, was taken from Nahal Oz. After he was kidnapped, his father was invited to meet Pope Francis in Rome along with other hostages' families.

Tsachi Idan was ambushed with his wife and children and then led away

Tsachi Idan, 50, was taken away by Hamas gunmen from his home in Nahal Oz. His eldest child, Maayan - who had just turned 18 - was shot dead in the attack. In August, Tsachi's wife, Gali, told US TV that the last she had heard of her husband was a report from released hostages in November 2023. Tsachi is on the list of 33 hostages to be freed during the first phase of the deal.

Omri Miran, 47, was abducted from Nahal Oz. His wife, Lishay, said she last saw him being driven away in his own car. She and their two small daughters were not taken with him.

Ohad Yahalomi, 50, was abducted from Nir Oz, along with his 12-year-old son, Eitan, who was released during the November ceasefire. Ohad was also named on the list of 33 hostages who should be freed.

A number of people were abducted from the Supernova music festival in southern Israel. Among them:

Yosef Ohana, 24, had been at the festival with a friend, who told his mother he and Yosef had remained to help people escape the gunfire before running themselves. Several weeks after the attack, Yosef's mother was told by the Israeli army that he was a captive in Gaza.

Avinatan Or, 31, was kidnapped along with his girlfriend, Noa Argamani. She was rescued from central Gaza in June, and revealed that they had been separated during the abduction.

Guy Gilboa-Dalal was filmed in captivity in Gaza, his family say

Guy Gilboa-Dalal, 23, attended the festival with his brother. In June, an unnamed released hostage was reported as saying they had been held in a room with Guy after their capture.

Eitan Mor, 24, was working as a security guard at the festival. In June, his father told Israeli radio that "the last sign of life" his family had had of Eitan was four months previously, but he did not give any details.

Alon Ohel, 23, is a Serbian citizen who was attending the festival. Hamas footage showed him being taken away as a hostage, but his mother said in August that she had not seen or heard of him since then.

Maxim Kharkin, 36, was invited to the festival at the last moment. He texted his mother twice after the attack, but has not been seen or heard of since.

Segev Kalfon, 26, was running away from the festival, across the highway, when he was captured by Hamas.

Bar Kuperstein, 23, was working at the festival when the attack took place. His family say they identified him in a video of Israeli prisoners, posted by Hamas. Since then, they say they have had no further information.

Elkana Bohbot, 35, had gone to the party with friends and, before losing contact, he spoke to his wife and mother telling them he was helping to evacuate the wounded, the Times of Israel reported. Hours later, his family found a video of him posted online by Hamas, which has been seen by BBC Verify.

Rom Braslavski, 20, was working on security for the festival. According to an account published by Hostages and Missing Families Forum, he was trying to rescue an injured person in the attack when he was caught in a volley of fire. He has not been heard from since.

Evyatar David's family say they were sent a video of him in captivity

Evyatar David, 23, was at the festival and on the morning of the attacks, he texted the family to say "they are bombarding the party". His family say they later received a text from an unknown number, containing video footage of Evyatar handcuffed on the floor of a dark room. According to Israel's foreign ministry, he is being held captive by Hamas in Gaza.

One Thai hostage named Nattapong Pinta remains unaccounted for, after the release of five others on 30 January 2025.

Hostages whose death Israel has confirmed:

On 20 February 2025, Hamas handed over the first bodies of Israeli hostages in Gaza.

It said the bodies were those of a mother and two children from the Bibas family and Oded Lifschitz, an 84-year-old veteran peace activist.

Hamas claimed the three Bibas family members were killed in an Israeli strike more than a year ago, without providing evidence. The BBC hasn't been able to independently verify this, and following the handover, Israel said forensics show the children Ariel and Kfir Bibas were "deliberately killed" by their captors. Forensic testing showed the fourth body that Hamas claimed was Shiri Bibas was an unknown woman from Gaza.

A Hamas spokesman said that Shiri's remains seemed to have been mixed up with other bodies under the rubble of a structure after an Israeli air strike.

Shiri's body was later identified and released to the Red Cross on 21 February.

The release of hostages' bodies was agreed as part of the ceasefire deal, and Israel has confirmed it expects eight bodies will be handed over in total as part of the first phase.

On 1 September 2024, the IDF announced that its forces had recovered the bodies of six hostages - Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Master Sgt Ori Danino.

The IDF said they had been murdered by Hamas shortly before Israeli forces could reach them.

On 8 August, it was announced that the bodies of Abraham Munder, Alex Dancyg, Yagev Buchshtab, Chaim Peri, Yoram Metzger and Nadav Popplewell - all of whom who died in Hamas captivity - had been extracted from Gaza by the IDF and returned to Israel.

Omer Neutra, a 22-year-old Israeli-American and grandson of Holocaust survivors, was serving as a tank commander near Gaza when Hamas attacked. Omer's parents said they were told by the Israeli embassy that he had been kidnapped, however the IDF later said he was killed on 7 October and his body taken to Gaza.

In November 2023, the bodies of 19-year-old soldier Noa Marciano and 65-year-old Yehudit Weiss were found by Israeli troops in buildings close to Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

In December 2023, the Israeli military expressed "deep remorse" after soldiers mistakenly killed three hostages in northern Gaza who had escaped from their captors. They were named as Yotam Haim, 28, Samer Talalka, 22, and Alon Shamriz, 26.

In January 2025, the body of Yousef Zyadna, a 53-year-old Bedouin dairy farmer, was found by the Israeli military in an underground tunnel in the southern Rafah area. The IDF later said his son Hamza, 22, had been killed in Hamas captivity, after a forensic examination of remains. Yousef's other children, Bilal, 19, and Aisha, 17 had also been abducted but were released in November 2023.

And in February 2025, the IDF said it had informed the family of Iraq-born Shlomo Mansour, 86, that he was killed by Hamas on 7 October 2023 and his body taken to Gaza. He is on the Israeli government's list of 33 hostages who should be released first under the ceasefire deal.

Research by Jamie Ryan and Emma Pengelly

More on Israel-Gaza war

• Six hours at hands of Hamas - new accounts reveal how Israeli base fell on 7 October

• Israel-Gaza war: History of the conflict explained

• What might happen next with conflict in the Middle East? 10 experts share their analysis