How many hostages are still in Gaza since Hamas attack on Israel? What to know.

The Israeli government estimates that 251 hostages were taken in the cross-border Oct. 7 Hamas attack that killed 1,200 people in Israel, although numbers have shifted over the course of the war. According to the latest figures, 71 hostages are believed to still be alive and in captivity in the Gaza Strip, but Israel has not given the full basis for its estimates. Since the attack, 116 hostages held in Gaza have been freed. A deal between Israel and Hamas, mediated by Qatar, paused the fighting on Nov. 24 and allowed for the release of women and children in exchange for Palestinian women and teens in Israeli prisons. However, fighting restarted Dec. 1, with Israeli warplanes resuming strikes in Gaza. During the pause, 81 Israeli citizens — including those who also hold citizenship from other countries — were released. Under the deal’s framework, every Israeli hostage freed would initiate the release of three Palestinian prisoners. Outside the framework of the exchange deal, 24 foreign nationals — who do not hold Israeli citizenship — were freed. Advertisement The number of hostages who have died in captivity and the ages, genders and nationalities of those remaining in Gaza are unclear. Two Americans — Abigail Edan, 4, and Liat Beinin Atzili, 49 — were released under the exchange deal. While Hamas is thought to hold most of the hostages, some are believed to be held by other militant groups, including Palestinian Islamic Jihad, whose fighters also took part in the Oct. 7 attack. Israel blames Hamas for the deaths of some hostages, and it said at least three were killed in its own operations; Hamas says Israeli strikes have killed some hostages. Number of hostages remaining in Gaza: An estimated 71 Return to menu According to the Israeli government, 251 people are thought to have been abducted on Oct. 7. The Israeli prime minister’s office says that of the 105 hostages taken on Oct. 7 who are still held in Gaza, 34 are now confirmed dead, bringing the estimated number of living hostages to 71. Israel includes hostages who were killed, with their bodies still held by Hamas, in its count. The majority of the remaining hostages are Israelis or dual nationals, and male. The only children on Israel’s list of remaining hostages are Kfir Bibas, who was 9 months old when he was abducted, and his 4-year-old brother, Ariel. Israel has said it is assessing Hamas’s claims that the Bibas children and their mother, Shiri, were killed. Advertisement Seven of the remaining hostages are foreign nationals, according to Israel: six Thai citizens and one Nepali citizen. Yocheved Lifshitz and Nurit Cooper, Israeli women in their 70s and 80s, were released Oct. 23, for what Hamas called “crushing humanitarian reasons.” Their husbands were also taken hostage on Oct. 7: The Israeli military confirmed the death of Cooper’s husband Amiram in captivity in June; his body, and Lifshitz’s husband, who is still believed to be alive, remains in Gaza. In mid-February, Israel’s military said it rescued two Israeli Argentine dual nationals, Fernando Simon Marman and Luis Har, amid deadly airstrikes on Rafah. In early June, the Israeli military announced the rescue of four hostages: Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, and Shlomi Ziv, from two locations in Nuseirat in central Gaza. – This Summarize was created by Neural News AI (V1). Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/30/hamas-hostages-list-names-tracker-israel-gaza/