These are the hostages to be released from Gaza

Oct 12, 2025 11:17 am | JNS News

After 734 days of war, U.S. President Donald Trump officially announced that Israel and Hamas have approved the first phase of the peace plan, a deal that will lead to ending the war and returning all hostages home in the coming days.

Twenty hostages are thought to be alive and will be returned to Israel on Monday. For most of them, real signs of life have been received—videos from Hamas or messages from captivity survivors who were released in the last deal in January-February 2025.

Hostages Square, Omer Shem Tov — Omer Shem Tov, who was abducted from the Nova music festival in southern Israel by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023, and held captive in Gaza for 505 days, celebrates at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv as negotiators sign a deal to free the remaining hostages, Oct. 9, 2025. Photo by Chaim Goldberg/Flash90.

The hostages with proof of life:

Matan Angrest, 22: An IDF soldier who was kidnapped and seriously wounded from a tank in Nahal Oz. Matan is the last survivor from the Nahal Oz outpost who is still kidnapped in Gaza. His family published the moments of his kidnapping during which a Gaza crowd is seen lynching him.
Gali Berman, 27: Along with his twin brother Ziv Berman, he was kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Aza. On Feb. 11, their family reported that they received a sign of life from them after almost 500 days in captivity. They are being held separately.
Ziv Berman, 27: Along with his twin brother Gali Berman, he was kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Aza. On Feb. 11, their family reported that they received a sign of life from them after almost 500 days in captivity. They are being held separately.
Elkana Bohbot, 35: He worked on the production of the Nova music festival. On Oct. 7, when his mother and wife called him, he told them that he was helping evacuate the wounded. He was later kidnapped to Gaza.
Rom Braslavski, 22: He was kidnapped from the Nova music festival in Re’im. He worked at the party as an unarmed security guard; his family reports that he decided to help as many people as possible and hide bodies so they would not be desecrated. Hamas published a video of him underweight in which he begs to return home and shouts, “I am on the verge of death.”
Nimrod Cohen, 21: An IDF soldier from Rehovot who was kidnapped from a tank at the Gaza border. In the video of being taken captive, he appears alive and exhausted, dragged by his hair by the terrorists.
David Cunio, 35: He was kidnapped from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz together with his wife, Sharon Aloni Cunio, and their twin daughters, Emma and Yuli. His wife and daughters were released from captivity in the first agreement in 2023. They were forced to leave him in captivity; that was the last time they saw him. His younger brother, Ariel Cunio, was also taken into Gaza, where he remains.
Ariel Cunio, 28: He was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz with his older brother, David, and his partner Arbel Yehoud, who was released in the second hostage deal in January.
Evyatar David, 24: He was kidnapped from the Nova music festival with his best friend, Guy Gilboa-Dalal. A video of him appearing emaciated shocked the global Jewish community. In the video, he is seen digging a hole, saying it is his own grave. He and Guy Gilboa-Dalal were brought to a ceremony held for other released hostages; they were filmed begging for their release from captivity.
Guy Gilboa-Dalal, 23: In September, Hamas published a video of him in a vehicle around Gaza City, where he describes the shortage of food, gas, water and electricity.
Maxim Herkin, 35: An immigrant from Ukraine, he was kidnapped from the Nova music festival. In April, a video of him was published together with hostage Bar Kupershtein, where they describe how IDF bombings almost hit them in Gaza.
Eitan Horn, 38: He came to Kibbutz Nir Oz to visit his older brother, Yair. The terrorists kidnapped them both. Yair Horn returned to Israel in February as part of a hostage release deal after 498 days in Hamas captivity. In a Hamas video, Eitan says in heartbreaking tears, “I am very happy that my brother is going out tomorrow, but it makes no sense that they are separating families.”
Segev Kalfon, 27: He was kidnapped from the Nova music festival. In February, his family received from him a sign of life through a hostage who had been released.
Bar Abraham Kupershtein, 22: He was a security guard at the party in Re’im. According to testimonies, he could have saved himself but chose to stay and assist the wounded.
Omri Miran, 47: He was kidnapped from his home in Kibbutz Nahal Oz, which was documented on social media.
Eitan Abraham Mor, 23: He was kidnapped from the Nova music festival in Re’im while working as an unarmed security guard.
Yosef-Chaim Ohana, 25: He was kidnapped from the Nova music festival after he helped in evacuating the wounded to medics and ambulances.
Alon Ohel, 24: He was kidnapped from the Nova music festival. Alon’s health and mental condition are difficult; he was reported to have been injured in his eye from shrapnel and may have lost sight in his right eye.
Avinatan Or, 32: He was kidnapped together with his partner, Noa Argamani, from the Nova music festival. Images of their separation went viral, becoming one of the symbols of Oct. 7. Taken to Gaza on a motorcycle, video shows her screaming and reaching out for him. Noa was rescued by the IDF with three other hostages on June 8, 2024, after 245 days in captivity.
Matan Zangauker, 25: He was kidnapped from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz together with his girlfriend, Ilana Gritzewsky. Documentation shows him being driven by motorcycle to the outskirts of Khan Yunis, seated between two terrorists. Ilana was released in the hostage release deal in November 2023.

Rubio Lutnick hostages — Marco Rubio and Howard Lutnick, U.S. secretaries of state and of commerce respectively, attend a vigil on the second anniversary of the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel at the Kennedy Center’s Sukkah of Hope, created by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, Oct. 7, 2025. Credit: Freddie Everett/U.S. State Department.

The hostages who are unconfirmed as alive or dead:

Bipin Joshi, 24: A citizen of Nepal, he was kidnapped from Kibbutz Alumim. Bipin arrived in Israel less than a month before the Hamas terrorist attack. His last sign of life was in November 2023.

2. Tamir Nimrodi, 20: An IDF soldier who volunteered to replace a friend’s post and was kidnapped from the Erez base, together with his service friends, Nick Beizer and Ron Sherman, who were murdered by the terrorists. He is the only Israeli hostage whose family has not been told whether he is alive or dead.

As talks between Hamas and Israel continue about the release of the remaining hostages, the bodies of 26 hostages who are confirmed dead remain in Gaza.