Hostages’ families hold silent procession at Knesset to mark 150 days of captivity

4 March 2024, 12:38 pm

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Illustrative: Israelis rally for the release of hostages held in Gaza, at the Knesset on March 4, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The families of the hostages held in Gaza and their supporters hold a silent procession at the Knesset to mark 150 days since their loved ones were kidnapped by terrorists and taken to the Strip.

It is believed that 130 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza — not all of them alive — after 105 civilians were released from Hamas captivity during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released prior to that. Three hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 11 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military.

The IDF has confirmed the deaths of 31 of those still held by Hamas, citing intelligence and findings obtained by troops operating in Gaza.

One more person is listed as missing since October 7, and their fate is still unknown.

Hamas is also holding the bodies of fallen IDF soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin since 2014, as well as two Israeli civilians, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who are both thought to be alive after entering the Strip of their own accord in 2014 and 2015 respectively.