Nineteen hostages held by Hamas in Gaza have so far been released as part of a long-awaited ceasefire deal with Israel, which began on 19 January 2025. Five Thai nationals have also been freed under a separate agreement.
Some 15 months after the 7 October 2023 attacks, Israel says 70 of the 251 captives remain unaccounted for, although it believes only 35 of these are still alive.
On Saturday 15 February, Hamas released three hostages after days of fears over the future of the ceasefire.
They are Russian-Israeli Alexander Troufanov, Argentinian-Israeli Yair Horn, and US-Israeli Sagui Dekel-Chen.
Six groups of hostages have been freed since the ceasefire was agreed.
A total of 141 hostages have now been freed from captivity, including 81 Israelis and 24 foreign nationals who were released as part of a previous deal between Israel and Hamas that saw a week-long ceasefire in November 2023.
Some of the hostages released during 2025 ceasefire deal are;
Yair Horn, 46, an Argentinian citizen and construction worker, was in Nir Oz at the time of the attack. He has been released but his brother, Eitan, 38, who works in education and was taken at the same time as Yair, remains in Gaza.
Alexander (Sasha) Troufanov, 29, 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. Alexander was freed on 15 February.
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. Sagui was released on 15 February.
Ohad Ben Ami, 55, was kidnapped from Kibbutz Be’eri with his wife, Raz. She was later released by Hamas. Ohad freed on 8 February.
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. Eli was released by Hamas on 8 February.
REF: BBC
