As of Jan. 10, the Hamas terrorist group was holding 98 hostages in Gaza, 94 of whom were kidnapped on Oct. 7, 2023, and four of whom were captured in 2014, according to the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office.

Of the 251 people kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7, 157 have been returned or rescued—117 alive and 40 deceased. Of those hostages Hamas is still holding, 36 are deceased, including two from 2014 (Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul).

“The State of Israel continues to do everything possible to bring back the 98 hostages—both the living and the deceased—including women, children, and the elderly—who have been cruelly held by Hamas for more than 450 days,” the PMO stated on Sunday.

Of the 94 hostages captured on Oct. 7, 2023, 81 are men, 13 are women and two are children under the age of five. Eighty-four are Israeli nationals, eight are from Thailand, one is from Nepal and one is from Tanzania.

Of the 34 deceased hostages the terror group is still holding, two are from Thailand and one is from Tanzania.

Released or rescued: 157

• Four Israelis were released and one was rescued by the Israeli military before the November 2023 ceasefire with Hamas, which lasted from Nov. 24 to Nov. 30.

• Eighty-one Israelis and 24 foreigners were released during the November ceasefire

• Thirty-seven hostages were killed by Hamas and their bodies rescued by Israeli forces.

• Three hostages were accidentally killed by Israeli forces

• “Operation Golden Hand”: On Feb. 12, 2024, Israeli security forces rescued Luis Herr (71) and Fernando Merman (61), who were kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak.

• “Operation Arnon”: On April 8, 2024, Israeli security forces rescued Noa Argamani (25), Almog Meir (21), Andrei Kozlov (27) and Shlomi Ziv (40) from Nuseirat, who were kidnapped by Hamas from the Nova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im on Oct. 7.

• Farhan Qadi was rescued from southern Gaza by the Israel Defense Forces and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) on March 27, 2024. JNS

{Matzav.com}