When Palestinian fighters led by Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, taking some 250 people captive, it set in motion an issue that instantly became vital to much of Israeli society.
The captives immediately became a symbol for Israelis, used to justify Israel’s brutal war on Gaza, which has already killed more than 46,800 Palestinians. But the issue has also divided Israelis, with many, particularly those who support the opposition to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, insisting that the government has not done enough to secure a deal leading to his release.
Now that a ceasefire agreement has been reached, the nightmare of captivity could be about to end for detainees in Gaza.
How many captives will be released from Gaza?
There are believed to be approximately 100 Israeli captives left in Gaza, and all are expected to be freed if the deal between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas is fully implemented.
But not everyone will be released at once. In the first six-week phase of the deal, 33 captives are expected to be gradually released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. Among the Israeli captives who will be freed in this phase are some who are sick or injured, as well as female soldiers and men over 50 years old.
Egypt has said those freed in the first phase will be exchanged for 1,890 Palestinian prisoners. Israel has said it will free 95 Palestinians, all women and children, on the first day of the ceasefire on Sunday.
The rest of the captives, all of them male soldiers, will be released in later phases of the ceasefire agreement in exchange for an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners.
What do we know about the identities of the freed captives?
Hamas on Sunday released the names of three Israeli captives who will be freed on the first day of the ceasefire. The Palestinian group has handed over their names – Romi Gonen, 24 years old, Emily Damari, 28 years old, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31 years old – to the mediators.
The Israeli prime minister’s office confirmed having received the list of the captives, adding that the ceasefire will now begin at 11:15 am local time (09:15 G) after a three-hour delay.
The list of other Israeli captives to be released in the first phase has not yet been published, and although the identities of the captives still in Gaza are known, it is not clear who is still alive.
On Saturday, Netanyahu had warned that the ceasefire would not begin until Israel received the list of captives.
Hamas has said several captives have been killed in Israeli attacks on places where they were being held, but videos have also been released with messages from some of them.
While all of the remaining captives are Israeli, some have dual nationality, including the United States, Argentina and Germany.
Five of the captives are believed to be female soldiers who were captured during the October 7 raids.
And two of the captives expected to be freed in the first phase are Israelis who were taken captive in Gaza before October 7 and who have spent years in the enclave.
What will the delivery process be like?
While some captives were freed by Israeli forces in military operations that killed dozens of Palestinian civilians, more than 100 – the vast majority of those who left Gaza – were freed in a temporary ceasefire in November 2023.
During that prisoner exchange, the freed captives were transferred by Palestinian fighters to the Red Cross and then handed over to Israeli forces.
Israel has prepared medical teams to receive the captives, and the head of the Hostage and Missing Families Forum’s health team, Hagai Levine, expects many to have cardiovascular and respiratory problems after spending so much time underground in tunnels.
How important has your captivity in Israel been?
The captive issue has been central in Israel and among Israel’s supporters since the war began.
The release of captives has been one of Israel’s main war goals, but it could also be said to contradict one of its other stated goals: the complete defeat of Hamas.
This is because Hamas has offered to release captives since the war began as part of a deal that would end the war, a demand that the Israeli prime minister had consistently rejected until recently.
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has stated that he has been able to use his political power to prevent any deal from taking place over the past year, essentially setting the goal of defeating Hamas and building settlements. illegal Israelis in Gaza. above the release of captives in a prisoner exchange. Ben-Gvir is now expected to make good on his promise to resign if the deal is implemented.
However, the return of the captives is the main demand of many Israelis. Their photographs are displayed on billboards across Israel, and the demand to “bring them home now” is regularly heard at protests. A square in Tel Aviv was renamed “Hostage Square” and is a focal point for demonstrations.
Relatives of the captives have frequently clashed with members of Israel’s government, and a movement representing them has vowed to continue pushing for the captives’ release. “We will not allow (far-right ministers) to sabotage the full implementation of the agreement,” a speaker said at an event supporting the ceasefire agreement on Saturday.
