Gaza war hostage crisis

In 2023, as part of the October 7th attacks which initiated the Gaza war, Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups abducted 251 people from Israel to the Gaza Strip, including children, women, and elderly people. Almost half of the hostages were foreign nationals or have multiple citizenships, and some hostages were Negev Bedouins. The captives are likely being held in different locations in the Gaza Strip. Of all the hostages presumed alive in October 2024, 53 were civilians and 11 were military personnel according to the Agence France-Presse news agency.

As of 12 June 2025, 148 hostages had been returned alive to Israel, with 105 released in the 2023 Gaza war ceasefire, five released by Hamas outside the framework of any ceasefire agreement, eight rescued by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and 30 released during the 2025 Gaza war ceasefire. The bodies of 53 hostages were repatriated to Israel, with three of the hostages killed by friendly fire after escaping captivity and being mistaken for enemy fighters by IDF troops, the bodies of 42 other hostages repatriated through military operations and eight returned in the same 2025 prisoner exchange deal. According to Israel, 74 hostages were killed on 7 October 2023 or in Hamas captivity. There are 53 hostages remaining in captivity in the Gaza Strip, 52 of whom had been abducted on 7 October 2023, and the other hostage captured earlier. Based on intelligence, the IDF has concluded that at least 30 of the remaining hostages are dead.

The return of the hostages has been a goal of the Israeli operation in Gaza. The question of whether this should be the main goal has been at the heart of a controversy in Israeli politics.

At the start of the war, Hamas offered to release all hostages in exchange for Israel releasing all Palestinian prisoners. In October 2023, Israel held 5,200 Palestinians, including 170 children (under 18), in its prisons. Several countries have been involved in negotiations between Israel and Hamas, with Qatar taking the lead.

On 22 November 2023, Israel and Hamas agreed to the release of 150 Palestinian prisoners and a four-day cease-fire in exchange for Hamas's release of approximately 50 of the hostages. The exchange involved hostages from the categories of women and children. As of 30 November 2023, the last day of the ceasefire, 105 civilian hostages had been released, which included 81 people from Israel, 23 Thais and one Filipino. On 12 February 2024, two Argentinian-Israeli civilians were rescued in Operation Golden Hand. On 2 September 2024, Hamas released statements which strongly insinuated that they now had a new policy of killing any hostage that the IDF attempted to rescue with military force, so that Israel could only receive the hostages back by negotiating a prisoners exchange. On 15 January 2025, it was announced that a hostage return agreement had been reached between Hamas and Israel, under which Hamas would release 33 out of 98 hostages in the first phase, including infants, children, women, and elderly men, as well as younger men with injuries or health issues. In exchange, Israel released more than 1,000 Palestinians being held in Israeli prisons.