Seven Israeli hostages – Alon Ohel, Ziv and Gali Berman, Matan Angrest, Guy Gilboa-Dalal, Omri Miran and Eitan Mor – were released from Gaza on Monday after 738 days in captivity, in the first round of releases under the cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
Hamas said it will release on Monday the 20 remaining living hostages in groups.
On October 7, 2023, over 251 people were taken hostage from Israel and held by Hamas and other Palestinian factions in Gaza.
Ziv and Gali Berman, 28
Close
Gali Berman (left) and Ziv Berman (right)
Gali Berman (left) and Ziv Berman (right)
Ziv and Gali Berman are twin brothers who lived side by side on Kibbutz Kfar Azza and worked for the kibbutz’s lighting company. Both twins were kidnapped to Gaza from the kibbutz in the early hours of Hamas’ attack on October 7.
In February 2025, Ziv and Gali’s aunt, Maccabit Mayer, shared that the family had received news that they are both alive. This was the first sign of life from the Berman twins since November 2023. Mayer told Kan Bet public radio that the family learned they were being held in separate locations.
The twins were abducted alongside Emily Damari, their close friend and neighbor in Kfar Azza, who was released in the previous cease-fire in January. Gali had been hiding with Damari in her room. She said of their kidnapping, “They took me and Gali out. When they pointed a gun at Gali, I shouted with all my might to leave him, and we were taken to Gaza along with Ziv.” Neither of the brothers was physically wounded during the abduction, but Emily was shot in her hand.
Their older brother, Liran, said that the twins are best friends: “They did everything together, from kindergarten through the army. They are the joy of the house; they have ‘twin power.’ They are the center of attention everywhere they go.”
The twins were born to Doron and Talia and have another older brother, Idan.
Matan Angrest, 22
Close
Matan Angrest
Matan Angrest
Matan Angrest is from northern Israel’s Kiryat Bialik and was abducted from the IDF’s Nahal Oz base while serving in the Armored Corps. His tank was attacked on October 7, killing fellow soldiers Itay Chen and Daniel Peretz, whose bodies were taken to Gaza. Angrest was also pulled from the tank and kidnapped.
He was taken to Gaza alongside six female IDF spotters from the same base, who were later released.
Angrest is an avid athlete and a die-hard fan of the Maccabi Haifa soccer team.
Angrest’s family released three videos of him from captivity. In June 2025 they released a video from the moment of his kidnapping, after releasing two others in April, including footage from an interrogation.
Released hostages have testified that Matan was wounded, beaten and tortured while in captivity. In July 2025, his mother, Anat, said she received his personal bag, which included his handwritten name, recovered in Gaza. “The testimonies are especially disturbing and show that the soldiers and men who were left behind underwent severe interrogations and torture,” she said.
“My son fought for the country and was abandoned there in captivity, even knowing he was in life-threatening danger,” she added.
His mother and father, Hagai, were active in the protest movement for the release of the hostages and frequently spoke at rallies and appeared at committee meetings in the Knesset, pleading for his release.
Eitan Mor, 25
Eitan Mor grew up in the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba and lived in Jerusalem. He worked as a barista at a café and dreamed of opening his own one day. He was abducted from the Nova music festival, where he was part of the security team.
Close
Eitan Mor
Eitan Mor
His family received a sign of life in February 2025, following the return of hostages from Gaza captivity.
His mother, Efrat, said that a released hostage told her Mor acted as “their spokesperson with the captors” and “he never stops believing that everything will be okay and that they will get out.” His father, Tzvika, added that the released hostage said, “Even in this hell, Eitan lifted everyone’s spirits, cheered them up, made them laugh, and instilled hope that they would get out. It really doesn’t surprise us, because we know him as that kind of person.”
His father is the chairman of the Tikva Forum, established by families opposed to a negotiated agreement for the release of hostages without the complete defeat of Hamas. Last April, after a meeting with Israel’s lead negotiator Ron Dermer, he and fellow hostage parent Ditza Or, mother of Avinatan, said they left the meeting “angry, humiliated, confused, and exhausted.” They accused him of unleashing a “relentless verbal assault” and said the meeting produced hardly anything useful.
Mor is the eldest of eight children.
Omri Miran, 48
Close
Omri Miran
Omri Miran
Omri Miran from Kibbutz Nahal Oz near the Gaza Strip is the oldest of the living hostages.
He was born in northern Israel and moved to Nahal Oz in 2014, working as a shiatsu therapist and overseeing landscaping in the kibbutz. He married Lishay Miran-Lavi in 2020 and had two daughters, Roni, 4, and Alma, 2.
His abduction from his kibbutz was documented in a video online, showing him and his wife holding their daughters, fearing for their lives. The most recent sign of life of Miran came via a Hamas video in April 2025. Exactly a year prior, Hamas released a video of him alongside Keith Siegel, who was released in January.
His wife and father, Dani, have been prominent activists in the protest movements to secure his release. In August, Miran-Lavi led a nationwide day of strikes and mass protests that saw hundreds of thousands of Israelis take to the streets demanding a hostage deal.
She said: “I’m not a strategist. I have certain abilities, but I’m just the wife of a hostage and a mother of two girls. I still can’t believe we are talking every day in terms of protest and struggle. Why should I have to fight? It’s a very difficult dissonance to deal with. And personally, it feels unimaginable.”
Alon Ohel, 24
Alon Ohel is from the northern Israeli community of Lavon. Before he was kidnapped from the Nova music festival, Ohel, a skilled piano player, was planning to study music at the Rimon School of Music after returning from a trip to East Asia.
Close
Alon Ohel
Alon Ohel
After fleeing the Nova festival, Ohel was taken to Gaza from what became known as the “death shelter” at the Re’im junction. In June 2024, a video of his abduction, along with other hostages, including Hersh Goldberg-Polin, was published.
After the release of other hostages during the cease-fire in early 2025, his family received a first sign of life. Freed hostages reported that he was wounded, losing vision in one eye, and bound in chains, but still whistling and plucking imaginary strings to practice piano.
Alon Ohel appeared in two Hamas videos in September 2025, one of which included a photo showing his right eye, indicating it is severely wounded. “Those are not Alon’s eyes; he is blind in one eye,” the family said. An earlier video circulated by Hamas that month showed him alongside hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal.
“After consulting with eye specialists in Israel and around the world, it is clear that Alon cannot see in his right eye. The frequent blinking indicates a serious difficulty in focusing and seeing for long periods of time,” they added.
To raise awareness of his situation, his family placed dozens of pianos across Israel with the message: “You are not alone.”
Ohel is the son of Idit and Kobi and has two siblings, Ronen and Inbar, and holds German and Serbian citizenship alongside his Israeli citizenship.
Guy Gilboa-Dalal is from the West Bank settlement of Alfei Menashe and studied Japanese, with a passion for its culture, anime, and films. After completing his IDF service, he learned computer programming and was planning his first trip to Japan before he was kidnapped from the Nova music festival.
He had attended the festival with his brother Gal and other childhood friends, was kidnapped to Gaza alongside his close friend Evyatar David.
Hamas released two videos of Gilboa-Dalal from captivity, the most recent, in September 2025, showing him traveling in a vehicle in Gaza City during the buildup to Israel’s ground offensive in the city. In the video, he met with fellow hostage Alon Ohel. In February 2025, he was filmed alongside Evyatar David watching a ceremony in which other Israeli hostages were released.
Guy Gilboa-Dalal, 24
Close
Guy Gilboa-Dalal
Guy Gilboa-Dalal
Gilboa-Dalal was subjected to “horrific conditions” and severe physical torture in captivity, according to released hostage Tal Shoham, who had been held with Gilboa-Dalal and Evyatar David. During the first two weeks of captivity the two were bound by the hands and feet, with their heads covered with a sack for days. Gilboa-Dalal was also severely hungry and thirsty. Shoham recalled that on one day, he was forced to drink from a toilet due to extreme thirst.
Before the release of the second video, Gilboa-Dalal’s father, Ilan, said ahead of the Israeli operation to take over Gaza City: “I hope this is an attempt to apply additional pressure in the negotiations. I don’t know if that’s the situation, because they aren’t briefing us.”
A short anime-inspired film about Gilboa-Dalal entitled “Guygu” premiered at Tel Aviv’s Animix Festival earlier this year.