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Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first phase of a peace deal aimed at ending their two-year conflict and the release over the next several days of the remaining group of Israeli hostages taken during the October 2023 terrorist attack.
The accord between the two parties, which President Donald Trump announced on Oct. 8, calls for the release of Israeli hostages within 72 hours of an agreement - in exchange for the release of Palestinians jailed in Israel.
While the announcement did not come with an official release date, a senior White House official told USA TODAY that hostages are likely to begin to be released on Oct. 13, although they could be returned sooner. In a Cabinet meeting with his top advisors Oct. 9, Trump said hostages could be released on "Monday or Tuesday," Oct. 13 or 14.
During his address to at the United Nations General Assembly in September, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu read out the names of the 20 hostages his government said are still alive. They include multiple attendees of a music festival, two pairs of brothers, dual Israeli citizens, and two Israeli soldiers.
Here are the hostages believed to still be alive after more than two years of captivity.
Matan Angrest, 22
Angrest, a soldier with the the Israel Defense Forces, was taken from Kibbutz Nahal Oz during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. His mother, Anat Angrest, is among the dozens of family members of the remaining hostages who have been outspoken in advocating for their release. She joined families of other hostages in late September in a protest outside of Netanyahu's home in Jerusalem, calling for a ceasefire.
"Our loved ones in Gaza are being bombarded by the IDF under the orders of the prime minister," she said.
Gali Berman and Ziv Berman, 28
The twin brothers were taken from Kfar Aza kibbutz during the attack.
Their brother, Liran Berman, described them to USA TODAY in November 2023 as fun-loving twins who he said would brighten every room they entered, and traveled the world for their work in the music industry.
Elkana Bohbot, 36
Bohbot was taken from a music festival in Reim, in southern Israel, where several others were also initially taken in the Oct. 7 attack where hundreds of other festival-goers were killed.
He has a wife, Rebecca, and a son, according to an August post on X by the Israel Foreign Ministry. Hamas released a video showing Bohbot and another hostage, Yosef-Chaim Ohana, alive, in March 2025.
Rom Braslavski, 21
Braslavski was working as a security guard at the Nova musical festival when he was taken. The festival, held about 3 miles from the border with Gaza, coincided with the weeklong Jewish festival of Sukkot.
Nimrod Cohen, 20
Cohen, a soldier with the IDF, was adbucted from Kibbutz Nahal Oz. He has a twin sister and enjoys gaming, music, and traveling, according to the American Jewish Committee.
Ariel Cunio, 28 and David Cunio, 35
Both brothers were kidnapped alongside their partners from their homes in Nir Oz, a rural community near the Gaza border.
Ariel Cunio and his partner, Arbel Yehud, were taken. Yehud was released Jan. 30, alongside several other hostages. In a Sept. 5 Facebook post to the advocacy group "Bring Them Home Now," he said their home was "our private paradise, and from that wonderful place we were brutally taken into the depths of Gaza’s hell."
David Cunio was abducted along with his wife, Sharon Cunio, and their young twin daughters, Yuli and Emma. Sharon Cunio and their daughters were released in November 2024.
Guy Gilboa-Dalal, 24
Guy Gilboa-Dala was taken hostage at the Nova music festival, which he was attending with his brother, Gal. The pair were separated in the chaos.
“Time has been passing very weirdly,” Gal said in an Oct. 6 article by The Guardian. “In a way I feel that I was with him at Nova yesterday and in a way I feel like I haven’t seen my brother in more than 100 years.”
Evyatar David, 24
David is among those taken from the Nova music festival.
U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff, (D-GA), alongside several synagogues and Jewish organizations across Atlanta, “adopted” David's case around May 2025 to advocate for his immediate release. Several other lawmakers and Jewish organizations across the country have also chosen to highlight individual hostages by "adopting" them, or meeting with family members, in a concerted effort to demand their release.
"Evyatar is 24-years-old. He loves playing guitar, he loves his family, he loves life," Ossoff said in a statement.
Maxim Herkin, 37
Herkin is a Russian-Israeli dual citizen, who emigrated to Israel from Ukraine with his mother, according to France 24.
Before being taken from the Nova festival, the outlet reports Herkin had written to his mother: "All is well. I'm coming home."
Eitan Horn, 38
Horn is an Argentinian-Israeli citizen who worked in education before the attack, according to the BBC. He was taken with his brother, Iair Horn,from Nir Oz kibbutz. Iair was released from captivity on February 15.
Segev Kalfon, 27
Kalfon was also attending the music festival when he was taken. He is the middle son of three siblings, according to the Times of Israel, and he worked as the production manager at a bakery and was studying finance before his capture.
Bar Abraham Kupershtein, 23
Kupershtein was working as a bouncer at the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, 2023. According to the advocacy group working to see the release of all hostages, Hostages and Missing Families Forum, Kupershtein helped other victims from the attack until Hamas militants abducted him.
Omri Miran, 48
Miran was abducted from the Nahal Oz kibbutz less than a mile from the Gaza border. He was separated from his wife, Lishay Miran-Lavi, and two daughters, during the attack on their home and seized by Hamas militants.
Eitan Abraham Mor, 25
Mor was also working as a security guard at the Nova music festival when we was kidnapped. He lived in Jerusalem prior to the attack and is one of one of eight siblings, the Times of Israel reported.
Yosef-Chaim Ohana, 25
Like many other hostages, Ohana was attending the music festival during the Hamas-led attack. He was born into a religious family and has two brothers, according to the group Bring Them Home Now.
Alon Ohel, 24
Ohel, who holds German, Serbian and Israeli citizenship, was attending the Nova music festival during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack. He is a pianist, and recent videos released by Hamas have prompted his family to claim injuries he sustained in the attack have caused him to go blind in one eye, according to Times of Israel reporting.
Avinatan Or, 32
Or was kidnapped at the Nova music festival with his girlfriend, Noa Argamani. She was rescued by Israeli forces in June 2024, after eight months in captivity.
Matan Zangauker, 25
Zangauker was captured alongside his girlfriend, Ilana Gritzewsky, which she chronicled in a May 2025 column for USA TODAY.
"We jumped out of the safe room window as bullets tore through the door. We ran in different directions. I lost sight of Matan," she said. "Moments later, I was captured."
Gritzewsky was released during the November 2023 ceasefire, but wrote in her piece for USA TODAY that she cannot fully heal until Zangauker is also freed.
Kathryn Palmer is a politics reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her at kapalmer@usatoday.com and on X @KathrynPlmr.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who are the hostages expected to be released in Gaza peace deal?
Reporting by Kathryn Palmer, USA TODAY / USA TODAY
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