A look at the hostages left in Gaza, by the numbers | iNFOnews.ca
Hands paste a heart-shaped sticker onto a banner with pictures of Israeli hostages during a a gathering at a plaza known as hostages square in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, Oct. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

A look at the hostages left in Gaza, by the numbers

Original Publication Date: October 14, 2025 2:30PM
Publication Updated: October 15, 2025 5:51AM

Israelis on Monday celebrated the return of the last 20 living hostages who were held in Gaza under the first phase of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire. Over the next two days, Hamas said it also released bodies of eight hostages. However, the Israeli military said Wednesday one of the bodies released was not that of a hostage.

Palestinians rejoiced at Israel’s release of some 2,000 prisoners and detainees as part of the ceasefire’s first part.

Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostages in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack. The ensuing war has killed more than 67,600 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children, Gaza’s Health Ministry said Saturday.

The ministry doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants. The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts.

Here are details on the hostages:

Total hostages taken during Oct. 7 attack: 251

Hostages taken before the Oct. 7 attack: four (two who entered Gaza in 2014 and 2015 and the bodies of two soldiers killed in the 2014 war)

Living hostages released in exchanges or other deals: 160

Bodies of hostages released in deals: 15

Bodies of hostages retrieved by Israeli forces: 51

Hostages rescued alive: eight

Bodies of hostages still in captivity: 21

Non-Israeli whose bodies are still in Gaza: 3 (including 2 Thai nationals and 1 Tanzanian)

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Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

A look at the hostages left in Gaza, by the numbers | iNFOnews.ca
Freed Israeli hostage Avinatan Or gestures from a van as he arrives at Beilinson hospital in Petah Tikva, Israel, after he was released from Hamas captivity in the Gaza Stripl, Monday, Oct. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
A look at the hostages left in Gaza, by the numbers | iNFOnews.ca
Ziv Berman, an Israeli hostage released from the Gaza Strip gestures from the window of a helicopter landing at the Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel, Monday, Oct. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
A look at the hostages left in Gaza, by the numbers | iNFOnews.ca
A woman with an Israeli flag draped over her body, sleeps on a bench in “Hostage Square” in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

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