After more than 15 months of fighting, Israel and Hamas have agreed to a ceasefire and hostage deal, raising hopes for families that their loved ones could soon return home.
In the first phase of the deal, Hamas is expected to free 33 hostages over six weeks — starting with three on Sunday. Israel says it will release 1,900 Palestinians from Israeli prisons as part of this stage.
There are men, women and children on the list of 33 to be released from Gaza, ranging in age from 1 to 86 years old. Two are U.S. citizens and some of the others have European citizenship.
They are mainly among the estimated 250 people taken captive during the Hamas-led assault on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which triggered the war in Gaza. Many were kidnapped from their kibbutz communities — and from a techno music festival — near the Palestinian enclave. Two men on the list of 33 were captured years before the war.
A Hamas official, speaking to NPR on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations, confirmed the identities of the 33 hostages. In the following list, their ages and other background are based on information shared by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a group representing the relatives of captives.
Liri Albag, 19
Albag was taken hostage with six other Israeli female soldiers at the Nahal Oz army base on the Gaza border during the Hamas-led attack.
Karina Ariev, 20
Ariev was a soldier serving at Israel's Nahal Oz base when she was taken hostage.
Ohad Ben Ami, 56
Ben Ami, an accountant who holds German and Israeli citizenship, was taken hostage along with his wife, Raz Ben Ami, from their home in Kibbutz Be'eri. Raz was released in November 2023 as part of a ceasefire agreement.
Agam Berger, 20
Berger was serving in the Israeli military and was kidnapped from the Nahal Oz base.
The Bibas family
Shiri, 33, Yarden, 35, Ariel, 5, and 1-year-old Kfir Bibas were taken hostage from Kibbutz Nir Oz by militants from the Al-Mujahideen movement. Kfir was 9 months old at the time, and was the youngest hostage abducted on Oct. 7, 2023.
Ofer Kalderon, 54
Kalderon, a French and Israeli citizen, was taken hostage along with two of his four children, Erez, 12, and Sahar, 16, from their home on Kibbutz Nir Oz. The children were released in November 2023.
Eliya Cohen, 27
Cohen was taken captive at the Nova music festival.
Emily Damari, 28
A dual citizen of Israel and Great Britain, Damari was abducted from Kibbutz Kfar Aza.
Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36
A project manager for the British philanthropic organization JNF UK, Dekel-Chen, a U.S. and Israeli citizen, was taken captive from Kibbutz Nir Oz.
Itzhak Elgarat, 69
Elgarat, who handled maintenance for Kibbutz Nir Oz, was shot and injured in his kibbutz home before he was taken captive. He holds Danish citizenship.
Daniella Gilboa, 20
Gilboa, an Israeli soldier, was abducted from the Nahal Oz base.
Romi Gonen, 24
Gonen was kidnapped from the Nova festival.
Iair Horn, 46
Iair Horn, an event producer whose family migrated to Israel from Argentina, was abducted with his brother Eitan from Kibbutz Nir Oz.
Tsachi Idan, 50
Idan was taken from his home in Kibbutz Nahal Oz, after his oldest daughter, Maayan, 18, was shot and killed through a safe room door.
Naama Levy, 20
Levy, an Israeli soldier, was abducted from the surveillance base at Nahal Oz, near the Gaza border.
Or Levy, 34
He was taken captive at the Nova music festival. His wife, Eynav Elkayam Levy, was killed there. They had left their toddler son with family before heading to the festival.
Oded Lifshitz, 84
Lifshitz was taken captive from Kibbutz Nir Oz along with his wife, Yocheved, 85, who was held captive for 17 days before being freed. The couple were peace activists and were among the founders of Kibbutz Nir Oz.
Shlomo Mantzur, 86
Born in Iraq, Mantzur is the oldest hostage held by Hamas. He was kidnapped from his home on Kibbutz Kisufim, from where his wife of 60 years, Mazal, escaped during the attack.
Avera Mengistu, 38
Mengistu, an Israeli of Ethiopian descent, was taken captive by Hamas in 2014 after he crossed the Israeli border into Gaza. He is the longest-held Israeli hostage in the Gaza Strip.
Gadi Moshe Mozes, 80
A farmer and potato expert, Mozes was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz.
Hisham al-Sayed, 36
The Israeli Bedouin has been held by Hamas for nearly 10 years. It is not clear how he crossed the barrier separating Israel from Gaza in April 2015.
Eliyahu Sharabi, 52
Sharabi was taken from Kibbutz Be'eri, as was his brother Yossi Sharabi, 53, who was later killed. Eliyahu Sharabi's wife, Lianne, and two children were killed in the attack.
Omer Shem Tov, 22
He was taken captive at the Nova music festival.
Tal Shoham, 40
Shoham, who holds Austrian and Israeli citizenship, and his family were taken from Kibbutz Be'eri. His wife and children were released from Gaza but Shoham remains in captivity.
Keith Siegel, 65
Siegel, an occupational therapist from North Carolina with dual Israeli and U.S. citizenship, immigrated to Israel from the United States about 40 years ago, settling in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, where he and his wife Aviva Siegel were abducted on Oct. 7, 2023. Aviva was released during a ceasefire the following month.
Doron Steinbrecher, 31
Steinbrecher was abducted from her apartment in Kibbutz Kfar Aza.
Alexandre Troufanov, 29
Troufanov, a Russian Israeli citizen, was taken captive along with his relatives on Oct. 7, 2023.
Omer Wenkert, 23
Wenkert, the manager of a restaurant in Kiryat Ekron, Israel, was abducted from the Nova music festival.
Ohad Yahalomi, 50
Yahalomi, an Israeli and French citizen, was taken captive from Kibbutz Nir Oz along with his wife, Batsheva, their 12-year-old son and three young daughters. His son Eitan was taken into Gaza and released in November 2023. His wife and daughters managed to escape during their abduction.
Arbel Yehoud, 29
She was abducted along with her boyfriend, Ariel Cunio, from their home on Kibbutz Nir Oz.
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