Who are the 20 Israeli hostages released alive by Hamas?

After more than two years in captivity, Hamas released 20 Israeli hostages who were captured during the October 7 attack, as part of a ceasefire agreement with Israel.

These men, aged between 21 and 48 years old, were delivered in two groups to the International Red Cross to be taken to Israeli territory, where they were met by the Army through a carefully coordinated process and received medical care.

"Welcome home," the Foreign Ministry posted on X, as it celebrated the return to Israel of Elkana Bohbot, Rom Braslavski, Nimrod Cohen, Ariel and David Cunio, Evyatar David, Maxim Herkin, Eitan Horn, Segev Kalfon, Bar Kuperstein, Yosef Haim Ohana, Avinatan Or and Matan Zangauker, who were released after 738 days in captivity.

The ministry sent a similar message earlier, when the first group of seven hostages was released.

Another 28 hostages lost their lives, although their remains will be returned to their families as part of the first stage of the 20-point peace plan for Gaza. Meanwhile, 156 people had already been released, either through other ceasefire agreements or Israeli military interventions.

The first stage of the peace plan also includes an end to hostilities and the withdrawal of Israeli forces in Gaza to an agreed line.

Here are the names and stories of the 20 Israelis who were released:

Matan Angrest, 22

Warrant officer Matan Angrest was captured in his tank near the Gaza Strip after attempting to prevent the infiltration of Islamist commandos near the Nahal Oz military base.

The three companions who were with him in the tank were killed, and the bodies of two of them remain in Gaza.

A video released by his family in April 2025 shows the moment he was captured in his tank.

Gali and Ziv Berman, 28

The twins, Gali and Ziv Berman, now 28, were abducted from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, which was torched by Hamas commandos.

Inseparable, the two brothers, who also hold German nationality, worked together in music production.

Their parents and older brother survived the Hamas assault.

Elkana Bohbot, 36

Elkana Bohbot was one of the producers of the Nova Festival, along with his childhood friends Michael and Osher Waknin, who were killed on Oct. 7 along with about 370 others at the techno music festival.

On the day of the Hamas attack, a video showed him handcuffed and with facial injuries as he was led away by his abductors.

Bohbot is married to an Israeli of Colombian origin, Rebecca Gonzalez. The father of a young child, he lived near Jerusalem. In November 2023, President Gustavo Petro granted him Colombian nationality.

His wife said in February that she received a proof-of-life message from Ohad Ben Ami, who was released from captivity on Feb. 8 and spent several months with Bohbot in Gaza.

Prior to his abduction, Bohbot had a plan to open an ice cream shop in Tel Aviv, according to his parents.

The hostage appeared in May in a video released by Hamas, alongside Yosef Haim Ohana. Elkana Bohbot is shown silent, visibly weakened and lying under a blanket.

Rom Braslavski, 21

A native of Jerusalem, Rom Braslavski, who is also a German citizen, was in charge of security at the Nova Festival.

Between 10:30 a.m., when he last contacted his mother, and 1:30 p.m., when he disappeared, he stayed on site helping many participants, according to survivors. During the attack, he was injured in both hands.

In August, the Islamic Jihad, an armed group allied with Hamas, released a video showing him speaking under threat, appearing very weak and thin.

Nimrod Cohen, 21

Stationed on Oct. 7 near Kibbutz Nahal Oz with his armored unit, Nimrod Cohen was immobilized by mechanical problems with his tank.

The soldier was pulled from the vehicle by the attackers, in the company of three other servicemen, according to videos released by Hamas.

His three fellow soldiers, Omer Neutra, Oz Daniel and Shaked Dahan were killed on Oct. 7 and their bodies were taken to Gaza.

Their parents, Yehuda and Viki Cohen, have participated in every demonstration by holding banners and photos to demand the release of the hostages. 

Cohen never let go of his Rubik’s Cube. His mother now cherishes the one the army gave her after finding it in her son’s tank.

David and Ariel Cunio, 35 and 28

Israeli-Argentine brothers David and Ariel Cunio were kidnapped with their family while hiding in the safe room of David's home in the kibbutz of Nir Oz. To force them out, the attackers set the house on fire.

His family had the highest number of hostages taken, with eight members captured.

Sharon Aloni Cunio (34), wife of David Cunio, as well as their three-year-old twin daughters, her sister Danielle Aloni (44) and her daughter (five years old) were freed during the one-week truce in November 2023.

Ariel Cunio's girlfriend, Arbel Yehoud, 28, was released on January 30.

Israeli filmmaker Tom Shoval presented the film Letter to David, a tribute to David Cunio, at the Berlinale in February.

In 2013, David Cunio and his twin brother Eitan presented the film Youth at the Berlinale, in which they played the main characters under Shoval’s direction.

Eitan Cunio escaped from Hamas by hiding in his refuge of Nir Oz. The twin brothers have the same dark green three-star tattoo on their wrists.

The Letter to David film received the Ofir (Israel's equivalent of the Oscars) for best documentary in September.

Evyatar David, 24

Evyatar David's parents learned that he was being held captive in Gaza from a photo on Telegram. In it, he appears with his face lit by a pocket flashlight. 

On October 7, he and his childhood friend Guy Gilboa Dalal went to the Nova festival. His friend was also kidnapped and is believed to be alive.

Passionate about music, he worked in a cafe to make money and dreamed of traveling to Thailand.

In August, Hamas released a video showing Evyatar David looking very weak from a lack of food.

Guy Gilboa Dalal, 24 

Guy Gilboa Dalal was attending his first rave with three friends when he was abducted at the Nova Festival. His family learned of the kidnapping after seeing a video showing him and his best friend, Evyatar David, tied up in a Gaza tunnel.

According to the testimony of a released hostage freed in June during an Israeli army operation, he himself suffered abuse from his abductors.

Guy Gilboa Dalal and Evyatar David appeared in a Hamas video in February, showing them following the release of other Gaza hostages before being locked in a vehicle.

He also appears in a Hamas video released Sept. 5, in a tunnel with hostage Alon Ohel.

Guy Gilboa Dalal, who loved Japan, learned the language in hopes of traveling there someday. He worked as a computer scientist.

Maxim Herkin, 37

Maxim Herkin, an Israeli-Russian, is the father of a five-year-old girl who lives with her mother in Russia. He emigrated to Israel from Ukraine.

Before being abducted from the Nova festival, he sent his mother a message saying, "it's going well, I'm coming back."

In the spring of 2025, Hamas released a video showing Maxim Herkin lying down with his head and left arm wrapped in brown-stained bandages.

Eitan Horn, 39

Eitan Horn was abducted from the home of his older brother, Yair Horn, in Kibbutz Nir Oz.

Yair, who was also kidnapped that day and suffers from diabetes, was released in February. Until then, the brothers were held together in captivity.

The Horn family emigrated from Argentina several years ago.

Eitan, an educator, worked for many years with various youth movements, including during a period in Peru.

Segev Kalfon, 27 

Segev Kalfon worked with his father at the family bakery in Arad, in the Negev Desert.

His childhood friend, who was with him at the Nova Festival, recounted the details of his capture. The gunmen found him hiding in a bush along Road 232, which connects the kibbutzim near the Gaza border.

Bar Kuperstein, 23

Before he was kidnapped at the Nova festival, Bar Kuperstein tried to come to the aid of festival-goers who were shot.

He was an army nurse but was off duty that day. Shortly after his abduction, videos were released showing him tied up.

Kuperstein is originally from Holon, near Tel Aviv. His father, Tal, was in an accident that left him disabled. He can't speak or move. Partly because of this, Bar took on the role of a stay-at-home dad from the age of 17.

For some months now, Kuperstein has been able to express himself, albeit with difficulty. He told AFP that he wants to give his son a surprise when he returns.

Omri Miran, 48

Omri Miran, a masseur and therapist who also has Hungarian nationality, was abducted from Kibbutz Nahal Oz, where he lived, in front of his wife Lichay Miran-Lavi and their two young daughters, who were released.

His father, Dani Miran, has grown a beard while waiting for his son’s return, after seeing him bearded in a Hamas video released in April 2024. He says that if his son can’t shave, neither will he.

In the video, Omri Miran appeared to be speaking under duress and described a "difficult situation" because of "numerous Israeli bombardments" in Gaza.

He appeared again in another video released by Hamas on April 23, 2025.

Eitan Mor, 25

The eldest of eight children in a religious family from the settlement of Kiryat Arba in the occupied West Bank, Eitan Mor was at the Nova Festival working as a security officer with several friends.

His father, Tzvika Mor, is the founder of the Forum of Hope, a collective of hostage parents opposed to any deal with Hamas. They are calling for increased military pressure from the Israeli authorities to make the force surrender and release the captives.

Eitan Mor worked in a cafe in Jerusalem and dreamed of opening his own restaurant. He stayed in touch with his parents, despite having distanced himself from religion.

Yosef Haim Ohana, 25 

Yosef Haim Ohana, was planning to pursue coaching studies, but was kidnapped at the Nova festival, where he was working as a bartender.

He was seen helping injured people before fleeing with a friend.

The son of divorced parents, Ohana lost his brother Acher-Yitzhak, who died of cancer at age 7, when he was a child. 

The hostage appeared in May in a video released by Hamas along with another captive, Elkana Bohbot.

Alon Ohel, 24

Alon Ohel, a talented pianist who was to begin his musical studies at a prestigious school, was kidnapped at the Nova festival after returning from a trip through Asia.

The young man was captured along with three other youths in a shelter on Highway 232, which connects the kibbutz on the borders of Gaza.

He lived in Lavon, a town in northern Israel. He also has Serbian and German citizenship.

Ohel’s family said in February 2025 that it received the first proof of life through the testimonies of other freed captives.

"It is clear that Alon islosing the sight in his right eye and appears emaciated and anguished," his parents said after Hamas released a video of their son in September.

Avinatan Or, 32

Born into a religious family in the occupied West Bank settlement of Shilo, Avinatan Or is the second of seven siblings. 

His girlfriend, Noa Argamani, kidnapped at the same time as him at the Nova festival, was released in an Israeli military operation in June 2024.

The two had planned to settle in Beersheva, in southern Israel, where he had studied engineering.

He also holds British nationality.

Matan Zangauker, 25

Matan Zangauker was abducted from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, along with Ilana Gritzewsky, his Israeli-Mexican girlfriend, released on Nov. 30, 2023, on the last day of the first truce.

Gritzewsky became one of the main figures advocating for the release of the hostages, alongside his partner’s mother, Einav Zangauker.

In September 2025, Zangauker threatened Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with a lawsuit for "murder" if his son was not released alive.

Matan Zangauker worked at Nir Oz's medical cannabis farm.