Hamas hostages: Stories of the people taken from Israel

A year on from the Hamas-led attacks on Israel, a total of 97 hostages remain unaccounted for.

According to Israel, 251 Israelis and foreigners were taken on 7 October 2023.

Israel’s official figure for those held in Gaza is 101 – this includes four people taken hostage in 2014 and 2015. Two of these are believed to have died.

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 7 October 2024

Emily Damari, (28), who holds dual British-Israeli nationality, was taken hostage from Kibbutz Kfar Aza. Addressing a memorial event in London on 6 October 2024, her mother Mandy said that hostages released last November had told her they had had contact with Emily in captivity.

Alexander (Sasha) Troufanov, 28, was taken hostage with his mother Lena, his partner Sapir Cohen, and his grandmother, Irina Tati. All were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz as they spent the Sabbath together. Irina, Sapir and Lena were released in November 2023.

Ariel Cunio, 27, and his partner Arbel Yahud, 29, were 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.”

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.

Doron Steinbrecher, 31, a veterinary nurse, was in her apartment in Kibbutz Kfar Aza when Hamas attacked. At 10:30 on 7 October, she sent a voice message to friends: “They’ve arrived, they have me.”

Naama Levy, 20, was filmed being bundled into a jeep, her hands tied behind her back. The footage was released by Hamas and circulated widely on social media. According to her mother, the teenager had just begun her military service.

Yousef Zyadna, a 53-year-old Bedouin dairy farmer, was abducted from Kibbutz Holit and taken to Gaza along with his sons Hamza, 23, Bilal, 19, and his daughter, Aisha, 17. Aisha and Bilal were released in November 2023.

Ohad Ben Ami, 55, was kidnapped from Be’eri with his wife, Raz. She was later released by Hamas.

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.

Iraq-born Shlomo Mansour, 86, was taken captive from Kibbutz Kissufim, where he lived and worked as a chicken coop manager. His wife, Mazal, managed to escape.

Daniela Gilboa, 20, was a soldier based at Kibbutz Nahal Oz. In July 2024 a Hamas hostage video was published, in which she appealed to the Israeli government to bring her and the other hostages home.

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

Eli Sharabi, 52, was taken from Be’eri with his brother, Yossi, since confirmed dead. Eli’s wife and two daughters were murdered in the attack. Ofir Engel, the boyfriend of Yossi’s daughter, Yuval, was also taken, but released on 29 November.

Agam Berger, 20, was kidnapped from Nahal Oz. She was seen being taken away in videos released by Hamas.

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.

Eitan Horn, 38, and his brother Yair, 46, both Argentinian citizens, were also in Nir Oz at the time of the attack. Yair is a construction worker while Eitan works in education.

Keith Siegel, 65, and his wife Adrienne – often known as Aviva – Siegel, were taken from their home in Kfar Aza. Adrienne was released in November 2023.

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.

Oded Lifshitz, 84, a retired journalist, was taken hostage from Nir Oz. His wife Yocheved was also kidnapped but she was freed in October 2023.

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 say they were told by the Israeli embassy that he had been kidnapped.

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.

Gadi Moses, 80, was also abducted from Nir Oz, where he worked as an agricultural expert. His partner, Efrat Katz, was killed in the attack. In September, his family told the Times of Israel that they had not heard any information about him since December 2023, when he appeared in a Hamas propaganda video.

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, 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.

Yarden Bibas, 34, was abducted from Nir Oz along with his wife, Shiri, and their two young children, Ariel and Kfir. In a TV interview in June, Israeli minister Benny Gantz indicated that the government knew what had happened to the Bibas family, but said it could not provide details yet.

Karina Ariev, a 20-year-old soldier, was serving at the Nahal Oz army base when she was kidnapped. Her sister Alexandra told the BBC she heard shooting as Karina called her during the attack, and later saw a video showing Karina being taken away in a vehicle.

Ofer Kalderon, 53, was taken by Hamas from Nir Oz, along with his two children, Erez and Sahar. Two other family members – 80-year-old Carmela Dan and her granddaughter, Noya, 12 – were killed in the attack. In November 2023, Erez and Sahar were released.

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.

Liri Albag, 19, had just started military training as an Army lookout at the Nahal Oz base when Hamas attacked. Her family say that she has managed to pass messages back to them through released hostages.

Ohad Yahalomi, 50, was abducted from Nir Oz, along with his 12-year-old son, Eitan, who was released during the November ceasefire.

Tal Shoham, 39, was taken from Kibbutz Be’eri. His wife, Adi, their two young children, and his mother-in-law, Dr Shosham Haran, were also captured but released in November 2023. Dr Haran’s husband, Avshalom was killed during the attack.

Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36, an American-Israeli citizen, has been missing since Hamas’s attack on Nir Oz. Since his abduction, his wife Avital has given birth to their third child, a girl named Shahar.

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

Omer Shem Tov, 21, initially made a getaway in his car but was captured when he tried to rescue his friends, Maya and Itai Regev. All three were taken captive – the Regev siblings were released in November 2023, but they say they had been with Omer in captivity.

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, 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.

Romi Gonen, 24, was ambushed as she tried to escape from the Supernova festival. Her mother, Merav Leshem Gonan, addressed the UN Human Rights Council in June, when she appealed for international help to release the hostages.

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.

Eliya Cohen, 27, and his girlfriend initially hid from the attackers in a shelter, but he was discovered, and driven away. In June, Hamas footage was released showing the moment Cohen and others were taken prisoner.

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.

Omer Wenkert, 23, a restaurant manager, sent a message to his family to say he was going to a safe shelter but then lost contact. His family say they saw Hamas video footage of Omer, including a photo of him handcuffed and wearing only underwear.

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.

Or Levy, 34, fled the festival with his wife Eynav, and phoned his mother to say they were hiding in a bomb shelter. Israeli forces later told the family that Eynav’s body had been found in the shelter and that Or had been kidnapped.

Thailand’s government says that six of its citizens are still being held hostage in Gaza.

Their names are Watchara Sriuan, Bannawat Seatho, Sathian Suwannakham, Nattapong Pinta, Pongsak Tanna and Surasak Lamnau.

A number of hostages are now known to have died while in captivity. Among them are the following:

On 1 September, 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 that 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.

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.

Hostages whose deaths have been reported, but not confirmed, include Shiri Bibas and her two young children, Ariel and Kfir.

Research by Jamie Ryan and Emma Pengelly