These are the 17 hostages yet to be returned in phase one of Gaza ceasefire

With five rounds of hostage-prisoner releases completed in the ongoing Gaza ceasefire deal as of Saturday, there are 17 Israeli hostages still supposed to be set free in the first phase.

Days into the truce, which began in January, family members of several hostages slated to be released from Gaza in the coming weeks expressed dread over their loved ones’ fates after Hamas conveyed information saying that eight of the 33 hostages on the original list are dead.

Following the release of the information, those families were informed by the military that Hamas’s information aligned with previous assessments and there were dire concerns about their fates.

Those on the list, to be returned over the initial period of 42 days, are so-called “humanitarian” cases: women, children, elderly individuals and the infirm.

According to the terms of the ceasefire, the identities of those set to return are to be provided by the terror group 24 hours before each release, though in recent weeks Hamas has often not met the deadline.

As of Sunday, February 9, 73 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.

Three Israeli hostages are paraded on a stage before being handed over to the Red Cross in Gaza on February 8, 2025 (Screencapture/Anadolu Agency/Reuters)

The list of hostages left on the list to be released in the deal’s initial stage includes Shiri Silberman Bibas, 33, and her two young sons, Ariel, 5, and Kfir, 2.Israel is said to be pressuring mediators to clarify the condition of Bibas and her young sons. Hamas claimed in November 2023 that the three had been killed, which Israel called a “cruel” claim that it could not confirm. Israel has said there is “grave concern” over the fate of Shiri, Ariel and Kfir.

The list of remaining hostages to be released in the first stage also includes five older men:

Itzik Elgarat, 70
Shlomo Mantzur, 86
Ohad Yahalomi, 50
Oded Lifshitz, 84
Tsahi Idan, 50

And another nine men under 50:

Hisham al-Sayed, 36
Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36
Iair Horn, 46
Omer Wenkert, 23
Sasha Troufanov, 28
Eliya Cohen, 27
Avera Mengistu, 38
Tal Shoham, 39
Omer Shem-Tov, 22

Al-Sayed and Mengistu have been captive in Gaza for over a decade, after entering the Strip of their own accord. All the others were abducted on October 7, 2023.

Hamas has so far released 21 hostages — civilians, soldiers, and five Thai nationals — during the ceasefire that began on January 19. The terror group also freed 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November 2023, and four hostages were released before that.

This handout image released by the Hamas Media Office on January 30, 2025, shows hostage Gadi Mozes during his handover to a Red Cross team in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip. (Hamas Media Office/AFP)

In total, Israel has said it will release up to 1,904 Palestinian prisoners — including 737 serving life terms for dozens of murders — in return for 33 Israeli hostages during the deal’s first phase.

The deal’s implementation has been shaky, with Israel and Hamas both accusing each other of violating it at multiple junctures. US President Donald Trump’s controversial proposal to relocate Palestinians from Gaza fueled further uncertainty on whether the multiphase agreement will hold up.

The 16 hostages who have been released in exchange for Palestinian security prisoners in the deal so far, in five batches, are:

Romi Gonen, 23
Emily Damari, 27
Doron Steinbrecher, 31
Liri Albag, 19
Karina Ariev, 20
Agam Berger, 21
Danielle Gilboa, 20
Naama Levy, 20
Arbel Yehoud, 29
Gadi Moshe Mozes, 80
Keith Siegel, 65
Yarden Bibas, 35
Ofer Calderon, 54
Or Levy, 34
Ohad Ben-Ami, 58
Eli Sharabi, 52

The three-phase deal’s later phases are to see negotiations with the stated goal of reaching a “sustainable calm” in the enclave, alongside the release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza, the release of more Palestinian security prisoners, and an Israeli withdrawal from the Strip.

Operatives of the Hamas terror group’s Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades hand over Israeli hostages Liri Albag, Naama Levy, Karina Ariev and Daniella Gilboa to the Red Cross in Palestine Square, in Gaza City. (Ayman Alhesi/Flash90)

Though talks for the second phase were supposed to commence last week, the negotiating team that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent to Doha on Saturday evening reportedly only has a mandate to discuss technical issues about the ongoing initial stage.

The prime minister’s spokesman has denied reports that the premier presented in Washington a plan to end the fighting in Gaza — a requirement for the second stage, but a red line for the right flank of Netanyahu’s coalition.

The families of male hostages who are not set to be released until after the first phase of the deal have expressed deep concern over the delay in talks on the second phase.

Demonstrators protest calling for the release of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip, outside the southern Israeli city of Sderot, February 8, 2025. (Dor Pazuelo/Flash90)

The war in Gaza began on October 7, 2023, when some 3,000 Hamas-led terrorists invaded southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and taking 251 hostages, amid many acts of brutality and sexual assault.

Aside from hostages released under deals with the Palestinian terror group, eight have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 40 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the Israeli military as they tried to escape their captors.

Hamas is also holding Mengistu and Al-Sayed — the two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015 — as well as the body of an IDF soldier who was killed in 2014. The body of another IDF soldier, also killed in 2014, was recovered from Gaza in January.