People hold placards with pictures of hostages who were kidnapped in the deadly October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza went into effect, at "Hostages square" in Tel Aviv, Israel, October 11, 2025.
Credit: Reuters Photo
The Palestinian militant group Hamas is expected to free numerous hostages it has kept in Gaza over the past two years on Monday, in return for nearly 2,000 Palestinian detainees and prisoners, according to the conditions of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
Twenty of the 48 hostages who remain in Gaza are believed to be alive. Here are some details about them:
Nova hostages
Many of the living hostages being released were taken from the Nova Music festival location near Kibbutz Reim in southern Israel.
Among them is Evyatar David, 24, who was recently seen in a Hamas video from August, appearing extremely thin and claiming he was digging his own grave; the group also includes pianist Alon Ohel, 24, and Avinatan Or, 32. A widely circulated video depicted Or's kidnapping, showing his girlfriend Noa Argamani desperately reaching for him and pleading for her life as he was taken away alongside her on foot. Argamani was rescued in June.
Hostages taken from Kibbutzim
Seven of the hostages were taken from their homes on kibbutzim, small communities near the Gaza border. They include twins Gali and Ziv Berman, 28, and brothers Ariel Cunio, 28, and David Cunio, 35, who was abducted with his wife Sharon and toddler daughters. Sharon and the girls were released in a brief November 2023 truce.
Israeli soldiers
Two of the hostages, Matan Angrest, 22, and Nimrod Cohen, 20, are Israeli conscript soldiers who were seized by Hamas militants in the battles of October 7.
Foreigners
There are four foreigners among the 48 hostages. Three of them have been pronounced dead in absentia: a Tanzanian student and two Thai workers. The fate of Nepalese student Bipin Joshi is still unknown.
Deceased
Twenty-six hostages were formally declared dead by Israeli authorities, based on forensics and intelligence. The fate of two, including Joshi, is unknown.
Hamas has indicated that recovering the bodies of some of the dead hostages may take time, as not all burial sites are known. A special international task force is meant to help locate them all.
One of these deceased is an Israeli soldier killed in a 2014 Israel-Hamas war, and the remainder were all among the 251 hostages taken in Hamas' deadly October 7, 2023, attack, which precipitated the war.
Some were already dead when taken, others were slain by the captors or killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza.
(With Reuters inputs)