Kidnappings during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war

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Posters in Tel Aviv calling for the return of Israeli hostages in Gaza

On 7 October 2023, as part of the surprise attack on Israel at the beginning of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, Hamas militants kidnapped around 200 people to the Gaza Strip,[1][2][3][4] and estimated that another 50 had been kidnapped by other Palestinian militant factions.[5] Hamas's demands included a prisoner exchange, fuel and other supplies, the opening of the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, and a suspension of Israeli airstrikes and shelling.[6] Several countries have been involved in negotiations, with Qatar taking the lead.[6]

Most of the captives were Israeli civilians, with a smaller number of soldiers, people with dual citizenships, and foreign nationals. The captives are likely being held in different locations in the Gaza Strip.[7]

Background

See also: Palestinian prisoners in Israel

The issue of prisoners is considered emotional for both Israelis and Palestinians;[8] since 1967, 750,000 to 1 million Palestinians have been arrested by Israel.[9][8][10] As of October 2023, there are at least 4,000 Palestinians (including 170 children[9]) in Israeli prisons,[11] and some have been convicted of terrorism.[3] 1,200 Palestinians are held without any charges or trial;[12][13] Israel justifies the practice citing security reasons.[13]

Prisoner exchanges have long been practiced in the Arab-Israeli conflict.[14] In 2006, Hamas captured Gilad Shalit, forcing Israel to release 1,000 Palestinians, some of whom had been convicted by Israel of terrorism,[3] as part of a prisoner swap.[8]

On 31 August 2023, Israel warned its citizens that Hamas was trying to kidnap them.[15]

Hamas attack on Israel

Main article: 2023 Hamas attack on Israel

On the morning of 7 October 2023, around 6:30 a.m. IST, Hamas launched an attack into Israel from multiple sites on its border with the Gaza Strip. The attack included ground and motorized infiltration into Israeli territory, attacks on Israel Defence Forces bases and exchanges of fire with security forces, massacres and shooting of Israeli civilians, takeovers of settlements and military facilities. The ground militant activity was combined with and backed by massive, sustained rocket fire of thousands of rockets.[16]

At around 7:00 a.m., Hamas militants raided many settlements and kibbutzim (intentional communities) in the Gaza periphery area of Israel. They carried out massacres in 10+ kibbutzim, including Be'eri,[17][18] Nahal Oz,[19][20] Nir Oz,[21] Netiv HaAsara,[22] and Kfar Aza,[23] as well as a massacre at a music festival near Re'im in which at least 260 people were murdered.[24][25][26] The combined attacks were described as "the biggest terror attack in [Israel's] history".[26]

As part of Israel's counteroffensive, Israel implemented a "total blockade" of the Gaza strip until the hostages have been released.[27]

October 7 abductions

Posters in Los Angeles calling for the return of Israeli hostages in Gaza

In the initial wave of attacks, the militants kidnapped civilians and brought them back to Gaza as captives.[3][4][28] According to statements by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, around 200 civilians, of which the number of children is slightly under 30, and soldiers were kidnapped during the raid on the Gaza periphery settlements.[29][30] Israel confirmed the identity of 203 hostages among them 30 children,[31] while Gaza spokespeople reported holding roughly 200 and estimated another 50 were held by other factions.[32] The IDF says it captured "handbooks" made by Hamas to instruct its militants; these handbooks instructed to "kill the difficult" hostages, and use the rest as human shields.[33]

At least 250 additional hostages were taken on the first day of the war, but rescued that day.[34][35][6]

There is video depicting at least 64 of the abductees.[36] Video analysis from The Washington Post shows that some of the captives were executed after their capture.[17][7] Civilians believed to be held captive in Gaza include families, children, festival-goers, peace activists, caregivers, and elders such as 74-year-old Vivian Silver, a peace activist and former board member of the human rights organization B'Tselem, who went missing following the attack on Be'eri.[4][37][38] 75-year-old historian Alex Danzig who has written books on Poland's Jewish community and the Holocaust, was taken from Nir Oz.[4][39] Also at Nir Oz, members of the Silberman-Bibas family were taken from their home, including an infant and 3-year-old.[40][41] Images taken by the Associated Press also showed an unidentified elderly woman being kidnapped.[28]

Some of the kidnapped are from France, Germany, Russia, United Kingdom, and the United States.[6][42] Seventeen Thai citizens working in greenhouses in the Gaza periphery were also kidnapped.[6][42] Nepal confirmed seven of its citizens who are university students were kidnapped in Herzliya and ten more Nepalis in Alumim were abducted.[43] At least one Filipino was abducted.[44]

Video footage showed Shani Louk, a German-Israeli woman taken hostage from the Re'im music festival massacre, of Palestinian militants parading her in the bed of a pickup truck while near-naked and unconscious.[45][46][47] Initially reported to have been killed on the day of the attack,[48] Louk's mother later published a video saying she had seen evidence that she was alive in hospital in critical condition, while demanding that the German government act quickly to have her returned.[49] China-born Israeli student Noa Argamani, who also was at the trance party near Re'im, was kidnapped while with her partner Avinathan Or.[4][50][51] They were filmed being taken by the militants to Gaza, after WhatsApp messages they sent asking for help from their hiding place from 8:10 a.m. were exposed.[50] The footage showed Argamani being taken on a motorcycle while reaching out for Or, who was led away by his captors on foot.[50]

Billboard in Tel Aviv calling for the return of Israeli hostages in Gaza

The IDF confirmed on 13 October that Israeli remains were located and retrieved in the Gaza Strip.[52]

Treatment of hostages

On 13 October, Hamas released a video in which it claimed it was being "compassionate" towards the children it kidnapped. The video shows Hamas soldiers, armed with rifles, patting children on the back, rocking children in a stroller, and giving a child water.[53] On 16 October, Hamas released a video of a 21-year old French Israeli woman pleading to be returned to her family, while someone bandages her injured arm and a scar is visible.[54]

On 14 October, Hamas claimed that nine hostages had been killed over a 24-hour period due to Israeli airstrikes.[55]

On 24 October, one of the released hostages, Yocheved Lifshitz, described her experience. She said initially, upon capture, she was beaten on the motorcycle ride back to Gaza, but was later treated well.[56] She described being taken to a network of tunnels, and kept in groups of five people, with each group assigned a guard.[57] Their captors reportedly told them they believe in the Qur'an and wouldn't hurt them. Lifshitz said she received medical care, one meal a day, and clean conditions.[57]

An Israeli mental health expert said returning hostages that have experienced continual psychological trauma will be very cautious about saying anything that endangers other captives. In addition, returning hostages can have "black holes in their memory" and can also express sympathy for their captors due to "Stockholm syndrome".[58]

Release of hostages

On 20 October, Hamas released two American hostages "for humanitarian reasons" and in response to Qatari and US pressure.[59][60] The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it helped facilitate the release of the hostages by transporting them from Gaza to Israel.[60]

On 23 October, Hamas released two Israeli women hostages, aged 79 and 85, for humanitarian reasons after mediation by Qatar and Egypt. The ICRC helped transport them out of Gaza. The released hostages were from the Nir Oz kibbutz.[6][61] One of the released hostages, Yocheved Lifshitz, and her husband Oded, a journalist still in captivity, are known peace activists that helped Palestinians in Gaza get to hospitals in Israel.[61][62] Lifshitz's daughter Sharone said that Lifshitz and other hostages were held in a "huge network" of tunnels. Lifshitz was critical of both the Shin Bet and the IDF, and the press conference was criticized as a PR disaster for Israel.[56][63]

Responses

Photos of the Israelis who were kidnapped by Hamas
Family members of hostages at a demonstration for their return, 14 October 2023

Human rights groups, international organizations, and families of those held captive have called for an immediate release of the hostages.[64] On Sunday evening, 8 October, the families of the kidnapped and missing held a press conference, demanding the government open ongoing talks with the families and carry out an operation to bring the missing home, appoint someone to maintain ongoing contact with the families, immediately involve Turkish President Erdogan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, to release the captives.[65] The government appointed Gal Hirsch to be in charge of the issue.[66]

After Hamas's attack on 7 October, Israel revoked work permits for residents of Gaza. Since then, between 4,000 and 5,000 Palestinians working in Israel were rounded up, arrested, blindfolded, detained, and mistreated by Israeli forces, according to the United Nations' International Labour Organization and Dr. Nasri Abu Jaish who is Palestinian Ministry of Labour. Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories confirmed an unspecified number of Gazans had been detained, but they declined to comment on their arrests or alleged conditions. The COGAT spokesperson told The Independent: "Due to the war in the south, residents of the Gaza Strip who were residing in Israel and do not hold permits to reside in Israel were taken to a holding facility in the Judea and Samaria region. Due to the wartime situation in the south, it is not possible to return them to the Gaza Strip at this time."[67]

Arab Knesset member Mansour Abbas, head of the Ra'am party, called on "all Arab and Jewish citizens to maintain restraint and behave responsibly and patiently, and to maintain law and order." Arab Knesset member Ayman Odeh, head of the Hadash party said in a media interview, "Any call for militant actions and igniting a war between Arabs and Jews inside Israel is something we will not accept."[68]

On 16 October 2023, a report sent to the International Committee of the Red Cross by the Geneva-based organization Hostage and Missing Families Forum medical team, headed by professor Hagai Levine, said hostages are "in urgent need of treatment and lifesaving medication" and are "prone to immediate mortality." The report also expressed concern about babies requiring infant formula.[69][70]

American-Israeli author Robby Berman set up a fund offering a reward of 1 million Israeli shekels for the release of hostages in Gaza, specifically aimed at encouraging Palestinians to aid in the rescue of Jewish prisoners.[71]

According to experts, an Israeli ground invasion of the Gaza Strip will endanger the lives of the hostages.[72] U.S. officials said the Biden administration advised Israel to delay the ground invasion of Gaza to allow more time for hostage negotiations.[73] According to Israeli officials, once Israel begins a ground invasion of Gaza, it will be almost impossible to reach a deal on the release of the hostages.[74]

On 25 October 2023, Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani stated that there had been some progress in the hostage negotiations.[75] That same day, World Health Organization Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus met with the Hostages and Missing Families Forum and said, "There is an urgent need for the captors of the hostages to provide signs of life, proof of provision of health care and the immediate release, on humanitarian and health grounds, of all those abducted."[76]

See also

References

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