February 14, 2025
On January 19, the first three hostages freed under the deal—Romi Gonen, 24, abducted from the Nova music festival, and Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, taken from their homes in Kibbutz Kfar Aza—were reported to be in relatively good physical condition. Follow AJC's Explainer, Who Are the Israeli Hostages Being Released? Full Schedule and Latest Updates, for real-time updates. AJC also breaks down what you need to know about the Palestinian Prisoners Freed in the Hostage Agreement and What the Hostages Endured in Hamas Brutal Captivity.
467 days since grandparents, mothers, children, and wives were torn from their families and held captive in Gaza, the Israeli government and Palestinian terror group Hamas announced a hostage release deal. The deal, brokered by international partners including the U.S., Egypt, and Qatar, follows over 15 months of conflict that began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists stormed southern Israel, massacring over 1,200 Israelis and taking 251 hostages.
Here’s what you need to know about the deal: Hamas is releasing hostages, including Israeli and American citizens, while Israel is releasing Palestinian security prisoners, including those convicted of terrorism and serving life sentences.
What are the phases of the deal?
According to the reports on the agreement, the deal involves a significant exchange of hostages for convicted Palestinian terrorist prisoners, alongside changes to Israeli troop positions in Gaza and humanitarian measures.
As of February 11, 2025, Hamas and other terror groups inside Gaza still hold more than 70 of the 251 hostages taken from Israel on October 7, 2023, including at least 35 of whom are dead, according to the Israeli government. An additional four hostages were already being held by Hamas, including the bodies of Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, who died during Israel's Operation Cast Lead in Gaza in 2014. Hamas is also holding captive Israelis Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who crossed into Gaza on their own accord in 2014 and 2015, respectively.
Phase One
The three-phase agreement covers a span of six weeks and includes the release of 33 hostages, including 12 women and children, men ages 50 and above, and injured civilians, including two Americans.
Three hostages will be released on the first day, and four more on the seventh day. After that, three hostages will be released every seven days, and the final 14 will be released in the final week of the first phase. Among these, five female Israeli soldiers would be exchanged for 50 Palestinian security prisoners each, including 30 serving life sentences for terror.
On Saturday, January 25, Hamas released four hostages: Naama Levy, Liri Albag, Daniella Gilboa, and Karina Ariev. The agreement also includes the release of Palestinian security prisoners, including those who are serving long prison terms for terrorism.
On January 30, three Israeli hostages—Arbel Yehoud, 29, Agam Berger, 19, and Gadi Moshe, 80—were released. Additionally, five Thai hostages were freed,
On February 1, Hamas released three hostages: Israeli-American Keith Siegel, French-Israeli Ofer Kalderon, and Yarden Bibas. While Yarden is now home, Kfir, 1, and Ariel Bibas, 5, are the only children still in captivity, along with their mother, Shiri.
Three Israeli hostages—Ohad Ben Ami, Eli Sharabi, and Or Levy—were released from Hamas captivity after 491 days and have arrived safely in Israel on February 8.
On February 14, Israel announced that three hostages would be released on February 15 from Hamas captivity as part of the agreement: Russian-Israeli Alexander Troufanov, Argentinian-Israeli Yair Horn, and American-Israeli Sagui Dekel-Chen.
Here is the full list of hostages:
Doron Steinbrecher, 31 (Released)
Romi Gonen, 23 (Released)
Emily Damari, 27 (Released)
Liri Albag, 19 (Released)
Karina Ariev, 20 (Released)
Danielle Gilboa, 20 (Released)
Naama Levy, 20 (Released)
Arbel Yehud, 29 (Released)
Ariel Bibas, 5
Kfir Bibas, 2
Keith Siegel, 65, (Released)
Shiri Silberman Bibas, 33
Agam Berger, 21 (Released)
Ohad Ben Ami, 58 (Released)
Gadi Moshe Moses, 80 (Released)
Keith Siegel, 65 (Released)
Ofer Kalderon, 54 (Released)
Eli Sharabi, 52 (Released)
Itzik Elgarat, 70
Shlomo Mansour, 86 (On February 11, 2024, Israel announced Shlomo was killed on October 7, 2023)
Ohad Yahalomi, 50
Oded Lifshitz, 84
Tsahi Idan, 50
Hisham al-Sayed, 36
Yarden Bibas, 35 (Released)
Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36
Yair Horn, 46
Omer Wenkert, 23
Sasha Trufanov, 28
Eliya Cohen, 27
Or Levy, 34 (Released)
Avera Mengistu, 38
Tal Shoham, 39
Omer Shem-Tov, 22
Additionally, during this phase, Israel agreed to withdraw from specific population centers in Gaza, facilitate the return of displaced Palestinians to northern Gaza, and allow the entry of 600 humanitarian aid trucks daily, up from roughly 250 per day, while maintaining control of the strategic Gaza-Egypt border region known as the Philadelphi Corridor. This border has been used by Hamas to smuggle into the Gaza Strip vast amounts of weapons which the terror group then utilizes to carry out attacks on Israel.
It’s important to note that during Phase One, there are no restrictions on Israel’s ability to continue its efforts to defend Israelis from threats emanating from Gaza.
Phase Two
The rest of the remaining hostages, numbering 65, will only be freed if the sides can agree on a second phase for the truce.
The deal stipulates that negotiations for the second phase are to begin 16 days after implementation of phase one and with the goal being the release of all remaining hostages, a permanent ceasefire, and the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.
The release of the remaining 65 hostages will only be freed if the sides can agree on a second phase for the truce. These negotiations will begin approximately two weeks into the halt in the fighting.
The second phase involves the release of all remaining hostages, primarily male Israeli soldiers, in exchange for additional Palestinian prisoners and a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
Among those released in the second phase could potentially be American Edan Alexander, 21, who joined the IDF after graduating from high school in New Jersey. He was on duty the morning of October 7. His family last saw him in a propaganda video released by Hamas shortly after Thanksgiving.
Phase Three
The third phase would see the return of remaining hostages' bodies in exchange for a Gaza reconstruction plan spanning three to five years, supervised by international entities.
Four Americans are presumed dead, with their bodies still being held: Itay Chen, 19; Omer Neutra, 23; Gadi Haggai, 73; and Judi Weinstein Haggai, 70. The bodies of 37 hostages have already been recovered and brought back to Israel by Israeli troops.
The full scope of the plan for a post-war Gaza has yet to be determined, including who would govern the territory. Israel has insisted that Hamas, which is sworn to Israel’s destruction and has controlled the territory since 2007, should not be involved in a post-war Gaza. The Israeli government has also opposed the involvement of the Palestinian Authority, which administers portions of the West Bank and administered Gaza before its ouster by Hamas in 2007.
Who are the Palestinian terror prisoners being released by Israel?
On January 19, the first set of 90 Palestinian prisoners were released in exchange for three hostages held by Hamas - Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher, and Emily Damari.
The prisoners to be released include prominent figures linked to Palestinian terror groups, such as Khalida Jarrar, 62, of the U.S.-designated terror group the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP); Dalal Khaseeb, 53, sister of former Hamas leader Saleh Arouri; and Abla Abdelrasoul, 68, wife of detained PFLP leader Ahmad Saadat, who ordered the 2001 assassination of Israeli tourism minister Rehavam Ze’evi.
Israel has already insisted that high-profile prisoners such as Marwan Barghouti will not be one of them.
Pro-Palestinian activists have long called for the release of Barghouti, a leader of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, who still exercises influence from behind bars. Barghouti was convicted in 2004 on five counts of murder and sentenced to five life sentences and 40 years for orchestrating a number of deadly attacks on Israel during the First and Second Intifadas.
Activists also have called for the release of Ahmad Sa’adat, secretary-general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), who was imprisoned for his role in the assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze’evi in 2001.
PFLP is a decades-old internationally designated terrorist organization that partnered with a West German terror group in 1976 to hijack an Air France flight, diverting it to Entebbe, Uganda. They murdered the Fogel family in 2011, carried out the 2014 Jerusalem synagogue massacre, and killed 17-year-old Rina Shnerb in 2019. PFLP was also involved in Hamas' October 7 massacre of Israelis.
Additionally, slain Hamas terror leader Yahya Sinwar, the architect of the October 7 massacre, whose body is being held by Israel, will also not be released, according to Arab media reports.
What is AJC saying?
American Jewish Committee welcomed the first stage of the agreement that secures the release of 33 hostages abducted during Hamas’ October 7, 2023, massacre of Israelis. AJC CEO Ted Deutch expressed gratitude to “the Biden Administration, the incoming Trump Administration, and other global partners” while emphasizing the need to “ensure that every hostage is reunited with their loved ones.”
Ted added: “We cannot wait to see the first hostages come home to their families, but the critical work to free every hostage – regardless of age, gender, or nationality – must continue. The international community must persist in its efforts to ensure that every hostage is reunited with their loved ones.”
Click here to read the full AJC statement
How are Israeli and world leaders reacting?
Israeli President Isaac Herzog acknowledges the "deeply painful, challenging, and harrowing" terms of the hostage release deal, but emphasizes its necessity, urging sensitivity toward affected families and vowing to "continue to act with all our might until every stage of the deal is realized and the last hostage returns."
Israeli Opposition Leader Yair Lapid emphasizes the need to secure the return of all hostages, thanking international partners, including Presidents Trump and Biden, and pledging political support “until the last hostage” comes home. National Unity chairman Benny Gantz welcomes the deal, urging efforts to use the ceasefire period to recover all abductees and apply pressure to replace Hamas, stating, “It is possible.”
In a statement, U.S. President Joe Biden hailed “many months of intensive diplomacy” by the U.S., Egypt, and Qatar. “My diplomacy never ceased in their efforts to get this done,” the outgoing president said.
In subsequent on-camera remarks, Biden said he was “deeply satisfied this day has finally come, for the sake of the people of Israel and the families waiting in agony, and for the sake of the innocent people in Gaza, who suffered unimaginable devastation because of the war.”
President-elect Donald Trump wrote on social media: “This EPIC ceasefire agreement could have only happened as a result of our Historic Victory in November, as it signaled to the entire World that my Administration would seek Peace and negotiate deals to ensure the safety of all Americans, and our Allies.” He added, “I am thrilled American and Israeli hostages will be returning home to be reunited with their families and loved ones.”
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, among the first Arab leaders to comment on the Gaza cease-fire, highlighted “more than a year of tireless efforts, brokered by Egypt, Qatar, and the United States,” and stressed “the urgent need to accelerate the delivery of humanitarian aid to address the current catastrophic humanitarian situation.”
What to know about the previous Israel-Hamas agreement and hostage release?
In an agreement reached on November 21, 2023, between Israel and Hamas, 50 Israeli hostages abducted during the October 7 attacks were released in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners and a four-day pause in fighting, later extended to allow the release of 108 hostages in total.
The phased releases included women, children, and elderly individuals, many from Kibbutzim like Nir Oz and Be’eri, which suffered devastating losses.
Additionally, foreign hostages were also included in the phased releases. Among them were 10 Thai nationals and one Filipino released in the initial group on November 24. Additional Thai nationals were freed in subsequent releases, including four on November 25 and three on November 26. These workers had been abducted during the October 7 attacks while living and working in southern Israel.
What has AJC been doing to advocate for the release of the hostages?
Since Hamas’ attack on October 7, AJC has worked tirelessly alongside more than 50 hostage families, advocating globally to keep their stories front and center with officials, including over 200 members of Congress, diplomats, and faith leaders. Through nearly 500,000 messages sent from its online action center, AJC supporters worldwide have urged immediate action to bring the hostages home, while the organization facilitated congressional vigils, roundtables, and high-level meetings to amplify families’ voices.
AJC has also engaged the global diplomatic community, connecting officials from 20+ countries with families of hostages and organizing impactful advocacy events across Europe and the U.S. From meetings with UN leaders in New York to community events in Los Angeles, Dallas, and Philadelphia, AJC has mobilized leaders, celebrities, and civic groups to push for the hostages’ release, emphasizing unity and relentless efforts to #BringThemHomeNow.