Nearly a year since Hamas and other militant groups kidnapped at least 251 people from Israel into Gaza, a cease-fire deal most likely to get them out alive and end the soaring death toll among Palestinians has remained elusive. Last month’s recovery of six hostages who were killed by their captors shortly before they were found by Israeli soldiers added fresh urgency to the desperation of families still waiting for their loved ones’ return.
“We can’t allow ourselves not to have hope,” said Lee Siegel, the brother of Keith Siegel, an American who has been held in Gaza since he and his wife, Aviva Siegel, were kidnapped on Oct. 7.
Aviva Siegel was among the more than 100 hostages released in a temporary cease-fire deal in November after 52 days in captivity. And Lee, 72, said in a phone interview on Tuesday that he believes a more permanent cease-fire deal “is the only way to return hostages alive.”
NBC News takes a look at the hostages who remain in Hamas captivity.
How many are still there?
Of the at least 251 people who were taken hostage, according to Israeli officials, at least 154 have either been released by Hamas, rescued by the Israel Defense Forces, recovered dead, or killed in encounters.
The majority of the released hostages — a total of 105 — were freed during a brief temporary cease-fire in November, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
At least eight are known to have been rescued alive in IDF operations, including one in June, when 26-year-old Noa Argamani, whose story became widely known after video of her capture went viral on social media, was rescued along with three others.
In December, three hostages — Alon Shamriz, Yotam Haim and Samer Talalka — were shot and killed by Israeli soldiers, who said they mistook them for combatants, though they were holding a white flag. Other hostages have been found dead, including the six who were killed by Hamas last month. Israeli American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, was among them.
The IDF on Sunday said three other Israeli hostages — Nik Beizer, 19, Ron Sherman, 19, and Elia Toledano, 28 — whose bodies were found last year in underground tunnels in Gaza were also most likely killed in an Israeli military airstrike aimed at a Hamas commander.
As of Monday, at least 97 people taken hostage on Oct. 7 are believed to still be in Gaza, with around a third of them, or at least 33 people, believed to be dead, according to Israeli officials.
Hamas also holds two hostages, one taken in 2014 and the other in 2015, as well as the bodies of two slain Israeli soldiers. Including these four raises the tally to 101 people, with 35 believed to be dead.
During the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, some 1,200 people, including hundreds of IDF soldiers, were killed, according to Israeli officials.
More than 41,300 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its offensive 11 months ago, according to local health officials, with thousands of people believed to be buried under rubble, suggesting the death toll could be much higher.
Who are the Americans?
At least seven people with American citizenship remain in Hamas captivity, and at least three of them are believed to be dead, according to Israeli officials.
Keith Siegel, 65
Keith Siegel, 65, is among those believed to still be alive.
His brother Lee Siegel, 72, said the last update he received on his status was a video released by Hamas’ military wing, Al-Qassam Brigades, in April showing Siegel and hostage Omri Miran. In the video, Siegel and Miran spoke about not being able to celebrate Passover with their loved ones.
Siegel said he would not “feel reassured until Keith is on his way home.”
Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36
Sagui Dekel-Chen was taken hostage from Kibbutz Nir Oz.
Speaking in a phone interview on Tuesday, his father, Jonathan Dekel-Chen, said he believed there “is no other solution” to seeing his son and other hostages released outside of a cease-fire deal.
And after the recent killing of the six hostages in Gaza, Hamas said that hostage guards had been operating under new orders. Abu Ubaida, a spokesperson for Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades, did not specify what the new orders were, but said that using military operations to free hostages, rather than a cease-fire deal, “means they will be returned to their families in shrouds.”
Edan Alexander, 20
Edan Alexander, 20, who grew up in New Jersey and had volunteered to serve with the Israeli military, was taken hostage from the Gaza Envelope on Oct. 7.
“I just hope that they will bring him home and my soul will come back to me,” his mother, Yael Alexander, said last October.
Omer Neutra, 22
In an interview with NBC’s “TODAY” show earlier this month, the parents of hostage Omer Neutra, 22, said news of 23-year-old Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s killing had come as a devastating blow.
Their son was almost the same age as Hersh, Neutra’s mother, Orna Neutra, said, “to have this happen now, it shouldn’t have happened.”
Americans whose bodies remain
Itay Chen, 19
Ruby and Hagit Chen had been outspoken for months in calling on Israel to do everything in its power to see them reunited with their son, Itay Chen, 19, an IDF soldier taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7.
In March, the Israeli military told them that were son was believed to have been killed on Oct. 7 and taken into Gaza. Since then, the Chens have been campaigning for his body to be returned for a proper burial.
Judith Weinstein, 70, and Gadi Haggai, 73
Married couple Judith Weinstein and Gadi Haggai, both American citizens, were initially believed to have been taken hostage by Hamas, but their statuses were unclear.
Late last year, it was confirmed that both had likely been killed on Oct. 7, and their bodies are now being held in Gaza. President Joe Biden said at the time, “no family should have to endure such an ordeal.”
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