EXPLAINER
Regardless of strain to conform to a deal that may see captives launched, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has not budged.
It has been a 12 months for the reason that Hamas-led assault on Israel during which 1,139 individuals had been killed and about 250 captured and brought to the Gaza Strip.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has killed greater than 41,900 individuals in its genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza.
Right here’s what to learn about what occurred to the captives taken from Israel:
What occurred on October 7 final 12 months?
Palestinian armed teams led by Hamas’s armed wing attacked a number of areas in southern Israel.
Israeli officers stated 251 individuals had been taken captive, together with ladies, males, youngsters and the aged.
Amongst them had been 23 Thai nationals, one Nepali nationwide and one Filipino nationwide who had been working or learning in Israel.
A number of had been twin nationals. It’s unclear how most of the captives maintain twin citizenship. Nonetheless, a minimum of 15 of these launched had been from Mexico, Germany, Argentina, Eire, the USA and South Africa.
The US says 12 Individuals had been taken captive and 7 are nonetheless in captivity.
The captives had been believed to have been taken to totally different areas within the Gaza Strip by fighters from totally different Palestinian teams.
What occurred to the captives?
Practically half the captives have been launched. Others are nonetheless in captivity with some confirmed or feared useless.
- Israeli officers stated 117 have been returned to Israel.
- Israeli and US officers say 101 individuals are nonetheless in Gaza.
- A minimum of 33 our bodies have been recovered by Israeli forces as of September 1, in keeping with the Israeli authorities.
Who did Hamas launch?
- Among the captives had been unilaterally launched by Hamas from October 20 to October 23, based mostly on “humanitarian grounds”.
- These launched embrace: Natalie, 17, and Judith Tai Raanan, 59, (launched on October 20) in addition to Yochevid Lifshitz, 85, and Nurit Cooper, 79, (launched on October 23).
- 100 and 5 captives had been launched as a part of a prisoner trade mediated by the Qatari authorities from November 24 to December 1. They had been 81 Israelis, 23 Thai staff and one particular person from the Philippines.
In return, Israel freed about 240 Palestinians imprisoned in Israel, a lot of whom had been minors and lots of extra who had not been convicted of a criminal offense.
Inside the first 4 days of the non permanent ceasefire, Israel arrested greater than 130 Palestinians within the occupied West Financial institution and East Jerusalem.
Did Israel get any captives out of Gaza?
Eight individuals have been rescued alive from Gaza by Israeli forces, typically throughout heavy shelling that kills scores of Palestinians:
- On October 31, Israeli forces rescued a feminine soldier, 18-year-old Ori Megidish, from northern Gaza.
- On February 12, two Argentinian-Israeli males – Louis Har, 70, and Fernando Marman, 60 – had been rescued in Rafah in a raid that reportedly killed 100 Palestinians.
- On June 8, Israeli troopers killed greater than 270 individuals and injured 700 in a raid to rescue 4 captives from the Nuseirat refugee camp: Noa Argamani, 25; Andrey Kovlov, 27; Shlomi Ziv, 40; and Almog Meir Jan, 21.
- One man, Kaid Farhan Elkadi, 52, was present in southern Gaza on August 24 by Israeli troopers.
Who’s nonetheless captive and alive?
As of September 1, about 101 captives had been believed to nonetheless be in Gaza, in keeping with Israeli navy spokesman Daniel Hagari.
They embrace greater than 30 individuals Israeli officers stated are seemingly useless.
- On August 12, Abu Obeida, a spokesperson for Hamas’s navy wing, the Qassam Brigades, confirmed that Hamas guards had killed a male captive and significantly wounded two feminine captives in separate incidents.
- On Monday, the Israeli group Hostages and Lacking Households Discussion board stated in a press release on X that officers knowledgeable the household of Idan Shtivi, a 28-year-old male captive, of his demise.
A minimum of 33 our bodies have been recovered, in keeping with Israeli forces, together with:
- Three captives who had been killed by Israel on November 10 in an air raid that Israel stated focused a tunnel the place Hamas commander Ahmed Ghandour operated. Officers initially denied Israel was liable for the killings however admitted that it was “seemingly” final month.
- Three males who had escaped their captors and had been killed by Israeli forces on December 15 within the Shujayea space of Gaza. The troopers opened hearth regardless that the three males waved white flags and spoke in Hebrew to the troopers.
- Six captives who had been discovered useless in a tunnel advanced in Rafah on September 1. Hamas stated that they had been killed by Israeli bombs. Israel stated they had been shot by Hamas members.
What’s subsequent?
Regardless of strain from households of the remaining captives to simply accept a ceasefire Hamas proposed that may see all of them freed, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is insisting that Hamas should launch the captives earlier than any ceasefire will be negotiated.
Netanyahu has confronted much more strain from the households as Israel has widened its conflict by attacking Lebanon final week.
Some accuse Netanyahu of not prioritising the captives however focusing as a substitute on beginning wars with Israel’s neighbours for political acquire.
A captive deal “has actually fallen off the desk in relation to this authorities”, Al Jazeera’s Stephanie Dekker stated.
Demonstrations demanding the discharge of the captives have been held weekly in Israeli cities in current months.
Hamas, in the meantime, has maintained it won’t launch the captives except Israel agrees to and implements a whole ceasefire in Gaza.
