As Israel marks the one-year anniversary of the devastating October 7 Hamas attacks today, families of hostages held in Gaza are appealing for global action.
“Do not forget us. Do not forget the hostages,” said members of the family forum during a gathering on Sunday.
The group called the hostage crisis a "humanitarian global crisis," urging world leaders and international bodies to pressure Hamas for the release of all captives.
"Every day that passes brings another day of unimaginable suffering for the hostages and their families," the families said.
Israel estimates that 251 Israelis and people of other nationalities were taken during the October 7 assault. In the year since, some military operations have resulted in successful rescues, while others have ended in disaster.
November Hostage Release Deal
In November 2023, after weeks of negotiations, a deal between Israel and Hamas led to the release of 50 Israeli hostages in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. The agreement also included a temporary ceasefire. By the end of the extended truce, 108 hostages had been freed, including women and children, before hostilities resumed on December 1.
Among those released was 21-year-old Mia Schem, a dual Israeli-French citizen who had been abducted from the Supernova festival. After her return, Schem, who had been shot in the arm, shared harrowing details of her 54 days of captivity.
Another high-profile release was that of 9-year-old Emily Hand, an Irish-Israeli girl who went missing from Kibbutz Be'eri on October 7. Emily’s return brought immense relief to her father, who had initially been told that she was dead.
Daring Hostage Rescues
Israeli military operations in Gaza have successfully rescued several hostages over the past year. In a February operation in Rafah, Israeli-Argentinian citizens Fernando Marman and Louis Har were freed after four months in captivity.
A daring rescue in Nuseirat in June saw four hostages—Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, and Shlomi Ziv—freed eight months after they were kidnapped from the Nova music festival. However, the operation came at a heavy cost, with over 200 Palestinians reportedly killed as 'collateral damage'.
Since her rescue, 26-year-old Noa Argamani has publicly spoken about the horrors of her captivity and actively advocates for the release of the remaining hostages.
In August, the rescue of Bedouin Israeli hostage Farhan Al-Qadi from Hamas’ tunnel network marked a breakthrough in Israel’s efforts to locate captives. Al-Qadi, who had been taken from Kibbutz Magen during the October 7 attacks, was the first person to be recovered from the vast underground Hamas tunnel network.
Remembering Hostages Who Died
Not all rescue attempts have ended in success. In November 2023, the bodies of two hostages, 19-year-old Noa Marciano and 65-year-old Yehudit Weiss, were found near Gaza City. Marciano, a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces, had been captured from the Nahal Oz Base, while Weiss, a mother of five, had been taken from Kibbutz Be’eri.
On December 16, 2023, three hostages who had managed to escape were mistakenly killed by Israeli soldiers during a northern Gaza operation. The victims, all in their 20s, were Yotam Haim, Samer Talalka, and Alon Shamriz.
Other hostages, like Shani Louk, a 23-year-old German-Israeli woman, were confirmed dead several months after their abduction. A video showing Louk in the back of a truck with a terrorist’s boot on her leg became one of the most haunting images from the Hamas attacks.
Around the same time, the bodies of three other hostages—Amit Buskila, 27, Itzhak Gelerenter, 58, and Ron Benjamin, 53—were also discovered.
In June, the IDF informed the families of four men—Amiram Cooper, Chaim Peri, Yoram Metzger, and Nadav Popplewell—that they were no longer alive, and their bodies were held by Hamas.
On August 8, it was announced that the bodies of six hostages—Abraham Munder, Alex Dancyg, Yagev Buchshtab, Chaim Peri, Yoram Metzger, and Nadav Popplewell—had been retrieved from Gaza by the IDF.
On September 1, the IDF recovered the bodies of six hostages from a tunnel near Rafah in southern Gaza: Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi, Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, and Master Sgt Ori Danino. They had been held by Hamas for nearly 11 months and were likely killed as Israeli forces closed in on their location.
Despite ongoing rescue efforts, 97 hostages remain unaccounted for. Israeli assessments suggest that at least 33 of them are believed to be dead.
A year after the October 7 Hamas attacks, a permanent resolution remains elusive. With many families still praying for the return of their loved ones, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces mounting pressure to find a path to peace and the safe return of all captives.
Source: India Today