Hostage Sudthisak Rinthalak, an agricultural worker from Thailand who was abducted and brought to Gaza in the Hamas attack. File
| Photo Credit: AP

Palestinians watch members of the Hamas militant group searching for bodies of the hostages in an area in Hamad City, Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip on October 18, 2025.
| Photo Credit: AP

As the Gaza war nears its first anniversary, an Israeli man taken hostage by Hamas on Friday recalled his confinement, saying he heard beatings while in captivity.

Shlomi Ziv, 41, was among the four Israeli hostages who were rescued alive from Hamas captivity in June.

They were kidnapped from the Nova music festival, a trance festival held in Israel’s Negev Desert, on October 7 last year.

Noa Argamani (25), Almog Meir Jan (21), Andrey Kozlov (27), and Shlomi Ziv (40) were rescued in a special operation by the IDF, ISA and Israel Police from 2 separate locations in the heart of Nuseirat after being kidnapped by Hamas from the Nova music festival.

They are in good… pic.twitter.com/PnkjL4GRQz

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 8, 2024

“There were quiet nights in captivity when you could hear every little sound, and then suddenly, you’d hear someone getting beaten,” Ziv was quoted as saying by the Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post.

“It was chilling to hear the screams of that person being brutally beaten,” he added.

“One thing that my captivity in Gaza reinforced more than anything else is the understanding and realization that they don’t want any peace with us or to live next to us or with us,” Ziv said.

He also said the Hamas members called them “cockroaches” and always said that the next time they do something like the October 7 attack, “they won’t take hostages, but would kill them”.

According to the Israel Defense Forces, Ziv was working as security director at the Nova music festival when he was taken hostage.

Hamas members staged their worst-ever attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and took 251 hostages from the Nova music festival and Nir Oz kibbutz, triggering the war in Gaza.

64 Hostages Still Held By Hamas In Gaza

According to reports, while 117 of the 251 hostages have so far been freed, most of them women, children, and foreign workers, 64 people are still in Hamas’ captivity.

This is the moment the elite Yamam unit rescued former hostages Shlomi Ziv, Almog Meir Jan and Andrey Kozlov from captivity in Gaza.

Real life superheroes. pic.twitter.com/1fMGPu3xpz

— Israel ישראל (@Israel) June 10, 2024

Of the 64 thought to be alive, 57 are Israelis, six are Thai nationals and one is Nepalese, according to news agency AFP.

Fifty-two men, 10 women, two children, and eleven military personnel are said to be held in Gaza.

Most of the hostages were released during a week-long truce in late November in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

The Israeli army has confirmed 70 others are dead, 33 of whose bodies are still in Gaza.

This video grab shows Mohammed Abu Selmia, the director of Gaza’s main hospital, who was detained by Israeli forces in November, sitting with his family after his release, along with other detainees, at a hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip on Monday, July 1, 2024. Israel released the director of Gaza’s main hospital on Monday after holding him for seven months without charge or trial over allegations the facility had been used as a Hamas command center. He said he and other detainees were held under harsh conditions and tortured.
| Photo Credit: AP

Israel released the director of Gaza’s main hospital on July 1 after holding him for seven months without charge or trial over allegations the facility had been used as a Hamas command centre. He said he and other detainees were held under harsh conditions and tortured.

The decision to release Mohammed Abu Selmia, apparently taken in order to free up space in overcrowded detention centres, sparked uproar from across the political spectrum, with government ministers and opposition leaders saying he should have remained behind bars.

They reiterated allegations that he had played a role in Hamas’s alleged use of Shifa Hospital, which Israeli forces have raided twice since the start of the nearly nine-month war with Hamas. Abu Selmia and other health officials have repeatedly denied those accusations, and the fact that he was released without charge or trial was likely to raise further questions about them.

Abu Selmia was released back into Gaza along with 54 other Palestinian detainees, many of whom also alleged abuse. The allegations could not be independently confirmed but matched other accounts of Palestinians who have been held in Israeli custody.

“Our detainees have been subjected to all kinds of torture behind bars,” Abu Selmia said at a news conference after his release. “There was almost daily torture.” He said guards broke his finger and caused his head to bleed during beatings, in which they used batons and dogs.

He said the medical staff at different facilities where he was held had also taken part in the abuse “in violation of all laws.” He said some detainees had limbs amputated because of poor medical care.

There was no immediate response from the prison service, which has previously denied similar accusations.

Israeli forces raided Shifa Hospital in November, alleging that Hamas had created an elaborate command and control center inside the facility. Abu Selmia and other staff denied the allegations and accused Israel of recklessly endangering thousands of patients and displaced people who were sheltering there.

The military uncovered a tunnel beneath Shifa Hospital leading to a few rooms, as well as other evidence that militants had been present inside the medical center, but the evidence fell short of what it had claimed before the raid.

Abu Selmia was detained on Nov. 22 while escorting a U.N.-led evacuation of patients from the hospital. He said his detention was “politically motivated,” adding that he had been brought to court at least three times but was never charged or allowed to meet with lawyers.

Israel has since raided several other Gaza hospitals on similar allegations, forcing them to shut down or dramatically reduce services even as tens of thousands have been wounded in Israeli strikes or sickened in the harsh conditions of the war. The army raided Shifa a second time earlier this year, causing heavy destruction after saying that militants had regrouped there.

Hospitals can lose their protection under international law if combatants use them for military purposes.

The decision to release Abu Selmia drew harsh condemnations from government ministers and opposition leaders, as the various state organs responsible for detentions scrambled to shift blame.

Itamar Ben Gvir, Israel’s far-right national security minister who controls the country’s police and prison service, said the release of Abu Selmia and the others constituted “security negligence” and blamed the Defense Ministry. Opposition leader Yair Lapid said Abu Selmia’s release was another sign of the government’s “lawlessness and dysfunction.”

Gallant’s office released a brief statement saying the incarceration and release of prisoners is the responsibility of the prison service and the Shin Bet internal security agency. The prison service said the decision was made by the Shin Bet and the army, and released a document ordering his release that was signed by an army reserve general.

The Shin Bet said the government had decided — against its advice — to release detainees who were determined to be less of a threat in order to free up space.

“Though the Shifa Hospital Chief passed the risk assessment compared to other detainees — the matter will be internally reviewed,” it said.

Since the start of the war, Israeli forces have detained thousands of Palestinians from Gaza and the occupied West Bank, crowding military detention facilities and prisons. Many are being held without charge or trial in what is known as administrative detention.

Israel launched its offensive after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, in which Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 civilians and took another 250 hostage. The war has killed at least 37,900 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were civilians or fighters.

Most of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million have fled their homes, with many displaced multiple times. Israeli restrictions, ongoing fighting and the breakdown of public order have hindered the delivery of humanitarian aid, fueling widespread hunger and sparking fears of famine.

Israeli police members stand guard as people protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and to call for the release of hostages kidnapped in the deadly October 7 attack on Israel by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas from Gaza, in Tel Aviv, Israel, April 6, 2024.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

Israel said on Saturday its special forces had recovered the body of a hostage killed while being held captive in Gaza, as the Palestinian enclave’s dominant Islamist movement Hamas said it would take part in a new round of ceasefire talks in Cairo.

Almost six months into the war, Israel has faced protests at home demanding a deal to free the dwindling number of live hostages from Hamas’s October 7 cross-border rampage. Western countries, meanwhile, have voiced outrage over what they see as an unacceptably high Palestinian civilian toll and the accompanying humanitarian crisis.

The body of Elad Katzir, a 47-year-old Israeli farmer, was unearthed by commandos in southern Khan Younis overnight, the military said. He had been killed by his Palestinian Islamic Jihad captors and buried there in mid-January, it said, citing intelligence information about which it declined to elaborate.

Islamic Jihad, an ally of Hamas, had no immediate comment.

Katzir was among 253 people dragged into Gaza by Hamas-led gunmen who killed some 1,200 others in southern Israel, according to official tallies, sparking an offensive that medics in the enclave say has killed more than 33,000 Palestinians.

His father Avraham was killed in their kibbutz, Nir Oz, and his mother Hanna was also taken hostage but freed in November under a truce. Qatari and Egyptian mediators have been to secure another that might return some of the 129 remaining hostages.

Angered by an Israeli air strike that killed aid workers in Gaza, U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday urged an “immediate ceasefire” and for Israel to boost humanitarian relief measures.

Hamas said it would send a delegation to Cairo on Sunday for a new round of mediated talks. Israel was undecided on whether to attend, an Israeli official said, citing concern that the event would be “more political theatre than actual progress”.

Hamas wants any deal to bring about an end to the war and withdrawal of Israeli forces. Israel has said that, after any truce, it would topple Hamas, which is sworn to its destruction.

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Israeli ground forces pushed deeper into Gaza on Monday, advancing in tanks and other armored vehicles on the territory’s main city and freeing a soldier held captive by Hamas militants. The Israeli Prime Minister rejected calls for a ceasefire as airstrikes landed near hospitals where thousands of Palestinians are sheltering beside the wounded.

The military said a soldier captured during Hamas’ brutal October 7 incursion was rescued in Gaza — the first rescue since the weekslong war began. Military officials provided few details but said in a statement that Pvt. Ori Megidish, 19, was “doing well” and had met with her family.

ALSO READ | Lost voice: On India’s abstention on the Gaza vote at the UN

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed her home, saying the “achievement” by Israel’s security forces “illustrates our commitment to free all the hostages.”

He also rejected calls for a ceasefire to facilitate the release of captives or end the war, which he has said will be long and difficult. “Calls for a ceasefire are calls for Israel to surrender to Hamas,” he told a news conference. “That will not happen.”

Mr. Netanyahu, who faces mounting anger over Israel’s failure to prevent the worst surprise attack on the country in a half century, also said he had no plans to resign.

Hostage situation

Hamas and other militant groups are believed to be holding some 240 captives, including men, women and children. Mr. Netanyahu has faced mounting pressure to secure their release even as Israel acts to crush Hamas and end its 16-year rule over the territory.

Hamas, which has released four hostages, has said it would let the others go in return for thousands of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, including many implicated in deadly attacks on Israelis. Israel has dismissed the offer, and Mr. Netanyahu said the ground invasion “creates the possibility” of getting the hostages out, adding that Hamas will “only do it under pressure.”

ALSO READ | Israel-Hamas war, Day 25 LIVE updates

Hamas released a short video Monday purporting to show three other female captives. One of the women delivers a brief statement — likely under duress — criticising Israel’s response to the hostage crisis. It was not clear when the Hamas video was made.

Amos Aloni, whose daughter Danielle appeared in the video, told reporters that he and his wife were shocked when she appeared on TV but also felt “relief from her being alive and seeing her.”

Gaza operations

The military has been vague about its operations inside Gaza, including the location and number of troops. Israel has declared a new “phase” in the war but stopped short of declaring an all-out ground invasion.

Larger ground operations have been launched both north and east of Gaza City. Israel says many of Hamas’ forces and much of its militant infrastructure, including hundreds of miles (kilometers) of tunnels, are in Gaza City, which before the war was home to over 650,000 people, a population comparable to that of Washington, D.C.

Though Israel ordered Palestinians to flee the north, where Gaza City is located, and move south, hundreds of thousands remain, in part because Israel has also bombarded targets in so-called safe zones. Around 117,000 displaced people hoping to stay safe from strikes are staying in hospitals in northern Gaza, alongside thousands of patients and staff, according to U.N. figures.

The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, says nearly 672,000 Palestinians are sheltering in its schools and other facilities across Gaza, which have reached four times their capacity.

UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini accused Israel of “collective punishment” of the Palestinians, and of forcing their displacement from northern Gaza to the south, where they are still not safe.

Death toll

The death toll among Palestinians passed 8,300, mostly women and children, the Gaza Health Ministry said Monday. The figure is without precedent in decades of Israeli-Palestinian violence. More than 1.4 million people in Gaza have fled their homes.

Over 1,400 people have died on the Israeli side, mainly civilians killed during Hamas’ initial attack, also an unprecedented figure.

Lazzarini said 64 of the agency’s staff were killed in the past three weeks — the latest just two hours before he addressed an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting, when an agency security official was killed with his wife and eight children.

‘Trapped’ Gazans

Most Gazans “feel trapped in a war they have nothing to do with” and “feel the world is equating all of them to Hamas,” he told the Security Council.

Video circulating on social media showed an Israeli tank and bulldozer in central Gaza blocking the territory’s main north-south highway.

The video, taken by a local journalist, shows a car approaching an earth barrier across the road. The car stops and turns around. As it heads away, a tank appears to open fire, and an explosion engulfs the car. The journalist, in another car, races away in terror, screaming, “Go back! Go back!” at an approaching ambulance and other vehicles.

The Gaza Health Ministry later said three people were killed in the car that was hit.

Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an Israeli military spokesman, declined to comment on where Israeli forces are deployed. He said additional infantry and armored, engineering and artillery units had entered Gaza and the operations would continue to “expand and intensify.”

The military said troops have killed dozens of militants who attacked from inside buildings and tunnels. It said that in the last few days, it had struck more than 600 militant targets, including weapons depots and anti-tank missile launching positions. Palestinian militants have continued firing rockets into Israel, including toward its commercial hub, Tel Aviv.

Hamas said its fighters clashed with Israeli troops who entered the northwest. It was not possible to independently confirm battlefield claims made by either side.

Hospitals under threat

Meanwhile, crowded hospitals in northern Gaza came under growing threat.

Gaza’s Health Ministry shared video footage that appeared to show an explosion and a column of smoke near the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital for cancer patients. The hospital director, Dr. Sobhi Skaik, said it had sustained damage in a strike that endangered patients.

All 10 hospitals operating in northern Gaza have received evacuation orders, the U.N.’s office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs said. Staff have refused to leave, saying evacuation would mean death for patients on ventilators.

Strikes hit within 50 meters (yards) of Al Quds Hospital after it received two calls from Israeli authorities on Sunday ordering it to evacuate, the Palestinian Red Crescent rescue service said. Some windows were blown out, and rooms were covered in debris. It said 14,000 people are sheltering there.

Israel says it targets Hamas fighters and infrastructure and that the militants operate among civilians, putting them in danger.

Conditions deterioriating

Beyond the fighting, conditions for civilians in Gaza are continually deteriorating.

With no central power for weeks and little fuel, hospitals are struggling to keep emergency generators running to operate incubators and other life-saving equipment. UNRWA has been trying to keep water pumps and bakeries running.

On Sunday, the largest convoy of humanitarian aid yet — 33 trucks — entered the territory from Egypt, and another 26 entered on Monday. Relief workers say the amount is still far less than what is needed for the population of 2.3 million people.

The fighting has raised concerns that the violence could spread across the region. Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah have engaged in daily skirmishes along Israel’s northern border.

In the occupied West Bank, Israel carried out airstrikes Monday against militants clashing with its forces in the Jenin refugee camp. Hamas said four of its fighters were killed there. As of Sunday, Israeli forces and settlers have killed 123 Palestinians, including 33 minors, in the West Bank, half of them during search-and-arrest operations, the U.N. said.

Hamas has demanded Israel to release all Palestinian prisoners from their jails in exchange for the hostages held by them in Gaza. Hostages have very high political currency and had been a major reason for negotiations in the past.

Since its October 7 attack, the Palestinian Hamas group had kidnapped over 200 civilians from Israeli border towns and dragged them across the Gazan border. These include several foreigners and dual citizenship holders.

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar recently said they are ready for an “immediate” prisoner swap with Israel.

“We are ready to conduct an immediate prisoner exchange deal that includes the release of all Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails in exchange for all prisoners held by the Palestinian resistance,” he said in a statement.

In 2011, Israel swapped 1,027 Palestinian prisoners to get a soldier released.

This time, with so many hostages held by Hamas in a war zone, Israel faces one of the most complex hostage situations ever.

Negotiations seem to have worked in favour of Israel so far with the intervention of US and Qatar, and four hostages have been released.

Hostages for ceasefire

Israel believes in not leaving anyone behind, dead or alive. Hamas has offered the release of all hostages in exchange of a ceasefire, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – who has already declared a war against Hamas – may not give any reprieve.

Safety of hostages

For any negotiations to proceed, Hamas will have to ensure the safety of the hostages. Though Hamas and its splinter groups have claimed death of hostages in aerial attacks by Israel, there has been no such confirmation by Israel or any other country who have their citizens being held as captive.

Israeli efforts to free the hostages militarily could lead to their deaths.

How long will hostages be held back?

Hamas may agree to release some women, children and elderly people in order to retain the support it has received from some quarters. But Hamas also has a track record for holding hostages for long periods – notably Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier who was held captive for five years before being eventually released in return for over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.

New Delhi:

The Israeli military has requested Gaza Strip residents to share actionable information about the locations where Hamas has kept Israeli hostages.

In a post on X, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) offered money for giving accurate information that could lead to rescue of the hostages.

The IDF also promised protection and confidentiality of those who give information about where the hostages are being held.

Some 220 hostages are still in Hamas’ captivity.

“If your will is to live in peace and to have a better future for your children, do the humanitarian deed immediately and share verified and valuable information about hostages being held in your area,” the IDF said.

“The Israeli military assures you that it will invest maximum effort in providing security for you and your home, and you will receive a financial reward.  We guarantee you complete confidentiality,” it said.

“The contact details are: Secure phone call: 8619 WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal: +972503957992,” the IDF said in the post on X, which also has the same message in Arabic.

If your will is to live in peace and to have a better future for your children, do the humanitarian deed immediately and share verified and valuable information about hostages being held in your area. The Israeli military assures you that it will invest maximum effort in… pic.twitter.com/FhlXR7ZjF5

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 24, 2023

Israel continues to strike at Hamas targets in Gaza, one of the most densely populated places in the world. It has accused Hamas of keeping civilians near rocket-launching sites to use them as human shields.

Two elderly Hamas hostages were airlifted to an Israeli hospital to be reunited with family today, as the US demanded Hamas release more than 200 other captives before Gaza ceasefire talks are considered.

Hamas stormed into Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7, and killed at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians who were shot or burnt to death on the first day of the raid, according to Israeli officials.

Hamas also took 222 people hostage, among them elderly people and young children, according to the Israeli authorities’ latest count. The hostages include dozens of dual nationals and foreigners.

More than 5,000 Palestinians, mainly civilians, have been killed across the Gaza Strip in retaliatory Israeli bombardments, according to the latest number of dead from the Hamas health ministry in Gaza.

Nurit Cooper, 79, and Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, and their octogenarian husbands were among the hostages seized on October 7. Hamas released Ms Cooper and Ms Lifshitz on Monday citing “compelling humanitarian” reasons, after mediation by Qatar and Egypt.

Their release comes days after a US mother and daughter were freed.

With inputs from AFP

An 8-year-old Israeli boy, believed to be among the 200 Israeli hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza, spent his 9th birthday while in captivity. Before turning 9, he had sent a birthday invitation to his friends to celebrate the day with him. Now, a picture of the heartbreaking invitation that has surfaced on Instagram, shows Ohad standing with a heart-shaped leaf in his palm.

“Come celebrate my 9th birthday with me on Saturday, October 21, 2023,” says the invitation.

”This is the invitation he sent to his friends to celebrate with him over the weekend. Instead of being surrounded by family and friends, he will ‘celebrate’ in captivity, in the hands of terrorists. On October 7, 2023, Ohad, along with his mother and grandparents, were ripped from their home, kidnapped by Hamas, and taken to Gaza. Ohad, along with hundreds of civilians, is being held hostage by Hamas,” the caption of the post shared by StandWithUs reads.

Watch the video here:

The caption of the post further described him as a bright young boy and an only child. ”Ohad is a brilliant chess player and a wizard with the Rubik’s Cube. He also loves playing soccer and tennis. Please share this so we can bring him home,” the caption added.

Reacting to the image, one user wrote, ”Oh little Ohad, just a child. Please let him be released and safe with his family and the remainder of the Israelis.” Another commented, ”Praying for the safe return of Ohad and all of the hostages.”

According to the Times Of Israel, Ohad was kidnapped by Hamas operatives on October 7 and taken to Gaza along with his mother Keren, and his grandparents.

The Israeli military confirmed that the family’s cell phones had been detected in Gaza.

”I keep imagining what he is going through. He’s a sensitive boy. Did he see dead bodies? He wears glasses. Did they take them from him? Can he see anything? I keep thinking of every scenario, hoping for the least catastrophic. I just hope that he is safe and with his mother, ” Ohad’s grief-stricken father, Avi Zichri said. 

Notably, Ohad is Mr. Zichri’s only child with his partner, Keren Munder, a 54-year-old special education teacher and volleyball coach for children with disabilities. 

Exposure to violent conflict can produce fear, horror, and lifelong trauma in young children. As the Israel-Hamas war intensifies, the conflict is taking a horrendous toll on innocent children from both regions. Several heartwrenching visuals of children crying, running through the streets, and cowering in bomb shelters after airstrikes have surfaced online. Recently, another heartbreaking image of a scared little girl hiding in a storage unit after surviving the Hamas attack went viral.

 

Jerusalem:

Israel on Saturday described as “propaganda” a claim by Hamas that the group had wanted to release two more hostages on humanitarian grounds but that Israel declined to receive them.

Abu Ubaida, spokesman for Hamas’ armed wing, said it informed Qatar of the group’s intention to release the two additional people on Friday, the same day it freed Americans Judith Tai Ranaan and her daughter Natalie.

In a later statement, Abu Ubaida said Hamas was ready to free the two people on Sunday “using the same procedures” involved in the release of Judith and Natalie.

The Palestinian group captured around 210 people during its deadly assault in southern Israel on Oct. 7. Qatar, which helped mediate Friday’s release, had no immediate comment.

In a brief statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said: “We will not refer to false propaganda by Hamas.”

The statement added: “We will continue to act in every way to return all the kidnapped and missing people home.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)