November 6, 2025
The American families whose loved ones—sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, and spouses—were taken hostage by Hamas after the October 7 massacre have endured unimaginable fear and uncertainty.
Now, all of these hostages—those who survived and those murdered by Hamas—have been returned to Israel, reunited with their families or given a final homecoming.
These are the eight American hostages who were in Hamas captivity. Whether raised in Israel or spending a gap year before college, their lives were violently interrupted when thousands of Hamas terrorists crossed the Gaza border. Each story is a reminder of lives torn apart, families waiting, and a nation’s enduring hope.
1. Edan Alexander
Edan Alexander, who was taken hostage by Hamas on October 7, spent 584 days in captivity before his release in May 2025 in a deal negotiated directly between the Trump administration and Hamas. Grateful to be home, he has announced that he will return to Israel to resume his military service, saying his story “does not end with survival—it continues with service.”
In a special moment following Edan's release, U.S. special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff gifted the 21-year-old a Star of David necklace that had belonged to Witkoff’s son, Andrew, who died in 2011. “You will do my son great honor if you continue to wear it,” Witkoff told him.
On the morning of the attack, while on patrol near the Gaza border, Edan called his mother, Yael, as the assault began. “I told him at the end of the call: ‘Listen to me, Edan. I'm here. I'm with you. I love you. Just protect yourself. Just be safe,’” she recalled on AJC’s People of the Pod. “And that's it, we hang up. I didn't know I'm not gonna hear from him again.”
Growing up in Tenafly, New Jersey, Edan was a happy-go-lucky young man, a champion swimmer for his high school team, and a devoted New York Knicks fan. His sister Mika describes him as her best friend; whenever their favorite artists released a new album, Edan would grab the car keys and take her for a drive so they could analyze every song together.
Born in Israel just months before his parents moved to the U.S., Edan spoke Hebrew at home and frequently visited Israel to see both sets of grandparents, celebrating his bar mitzvah there. After high school, he surprised his mother by choosing to postpone college to join Garin Tzabar, a program for young Jewish adults volunteering as lone soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces. Edan and 16 other American graduates, including a classmate from Tenafly, moved to a kibbutz and trained for four months before joining the IDF’s Golani Brigade.
2. Itay Chen Z”L
Itay Chen, 19, was the youngest American hostage in Hamas captivity. After months of holding out hope that their son would return, Chen’s parents, Ruby and Hagit Chen, learned that he died on October 7 defending civilians living near the Gaza border.
In November 2025, the Israel Defense Forces confirmed that Itay’s body has now been returned from Gaza for burial, bringing bittersweet closure to a family that fought tirelessly for his return. Chen served as a combat soldier in the 77th Battalion of the 7th Armored Brigade and was killed when his tank was struck near Kibbutz Nahal Oz—one of the hardest-hit communities in Hamas’ attack.
Born in the U.S., Itay grew up in Netanya, just north of Tel Aviv, but the family frequently visited his father’s hometown of New York. A Boy Scout who loved basketball, hiking, and his PlayStation, he was the fun-loving middle child—the “life of the party” and “connector” of his family, his father said. The only reason he was on duty that day was because he had switched weekends with another soldier so he could attend his brother’s bar mitzvah the following week.
Ruby and Hagit Chen said in a statement, “For 760 days, our dear and beloved son Itay, a hero of Israel, was held captive by Hamas. Last night, we received the bittersweet news of his return home to Israel. Even in this difficult moment, we remember that there are still seven hostages who must be brought back.”
3. Sagui Dekel-Chen
Sagui Dekel-Chen, 35, spent nearly 500 days in Hamas captivity, unaware that his family had survived the attack on Kibbutz Nir Oz or that his wife had given birth to their third daughter. He was freed in February 2025 as part of the first phase of a ceasefire and hostage release deal, becoming the second U.S. citizen released after Keith Siegel.
On October 7, Sagui had been working in his machine shop just 200 yards from his home when Hamas terrorists entered the kibbutz after sunrise. He and a few others sent urgent text messages warning neighbors to take shelter. Before confronting the attackers, he ensured his then-pregnant wife, Avital, and their two daughters were safe inside a bomb shelter. She heard him fighting off the intruders when they broke into their home and last heard from him around 9:30 a.m. Avital later gave birth to the couple’s third daughter in December.
The grandson of Holocaust survivors, Sagui’s parents had been raised in the U.S. but moved to Israel to raise their family. One of the few Israelis who knew how to play baseball, he competed in Israel’s junior national league as a child. “I’d love to share all kinds of photos: him as a little boy, as a baseball player,” his father, Jonathan Dekel-Chen, told Slate. “A lot of the photos that we’ve had for Sagui and from my other kids and grandkids were burned on October 7.”
An avid fixer-upper, Sagui often repaired his farm equipment by hand, reflecting his hands-on, courageous nature—a quality that carried him through the harrowing months of captivity.
4. Hersh Goldberg-Polin Z”L
Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, was killed by Hamas captors in August 2024. His body, along with those of five other hostages, was recovered in a tunnel in Rafah. An autopsy determined they had been executed by “multiple close‑range gunshots” within 48‑72 hours of the Israel Defense Forces’ closing in on their location.
Hersh and the others had been held for months in a cramped, airless tunnel 20 meters underground. His mother, Rachel Goldberg-Polin, recounted the horrific conditions: “Hersh … weighed 53 kilograms,” describing the torture and suffering he endured. She noted the brutality of his final hours: “He was shot in his only hand. His other hand had been blown off on October 7.
Hersh was last seen at the Nova Music Festival in southern Israel, where he had gone after celebrating Simchat Torah with family and friends. Video footage (content warning, viewer discretion advised) captured him on the back of a truck, his left arm missing from the elbow down, and wrapped in a tourniquet. That morning, he sent his mother two WhatsApp messages—one telling his parents he loved them, the other saying, “I’m sorry.”
Born in Berkeley, California, Hersh moved to Israel at age 7 with his parents, Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin, and two siblings. A quiet young man with a quick wit, he believed deeply in the possibility of peace and supported an Israeli soccer team that championed Arab and Jewish coexistence.
From a young age, he loved reading and could, at age 8, rattle off details about every American president, his parents told AJC’s People of the Pod. Later, he became fascinated with atlases, maps, globes, and travel, planning a round-the-world trip that would begin in India. His previous international adventure was a nine-week tour through six European countries to attend a series of music festivals.
5. Gadi Haggai Z”L
Gadi Haggai, 72, a U.S.–Israeli citizen, was murdered by terrorists near Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023, and his body was taken to Gaza. His wife, Judith Weinstein Haggai, 70, was killed alongside him. The couple had set out for their daily morning walk, and that Saturday was no exception—they were last seen on security camera footage exiting the kibbutz gate.
When air raid sirens sounded, Judith sent a video in a WhatsApp group showing rockets streaking across the sky. The family later recovered a recording of a call she made to the Magen David Adom ambulance service: “My husband, I think he’s dead and I was hit in the face. Please help us! Everything is covered with blood… We were lying down and they shot us.” That was the last anyone heard from them.
“Here in the fields, we are full of fear. People are dying, and birds aren’t flying.” Those prescient lyrics, composed in the 1980s by Gadi, eerily reflect his final moments. A retired chef, jazz musician, father of four, grandfather of seven, exercise enthusiast, and pacifist, he had served as first flutist in the IDF Orchestra during his military service. After several years in the U.S. pursuing jazz, he returned to Israel and, with Judith—an American-Canadian volunteer—founded the Jazz Union orchestra. Unable to support his family solely as a musician, he trained as a chef, and the family eventually moved to Kibbutz Nir Oz.
On the morning of the attack, as rockets and gunfire tore through the kibbutz, Gadi and Judith lay face down in a field, calling their daughter in Singapore to describe what was happening. Shortly after, Gadi was shot by terrorists on a motorcycle. Paramedics attempted to send an ambulance, but it was struck by a rocket en route.
In December 2023, within the span of a week, the family was informed that both had been killed and their bodies kidnapped. In June 2025, the IDF announced that it had recovered their remains from the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. The couple was laid to rest in Kibbutz Ein Hashofet on June 11, 2025. They are survived by their four children—Iris, Ahl, Rahm, and Zohar—seven grandchildren, and their siblings.
6. Judith Weinstein Haggai Z”L
Judi Weinstein Haggai, 70, was murdered by Hamas terrorists near Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023. Her body, along with that of her husband, Gadi Haggai, was taken to Gaza and held in captivity until June 2025, when the IDF announced their recovery. The couple was laid to rest in Kibbutz Ein Hashofet on June 11, 2025.
Born in New York and raised in Toronto, Judi made aliyah to Israel in 1976. There, she and Gadi built a life centered on music, art, family, and healthy living. They maintained a plant-based diet and took daily morning walks—on the morning of October 7, this routine brought them to the field where the attack occurred.
Even after decades in Israel, Judi added “-ing” to every verb she spoke in Hebrew. She wrote in English and taught both Israeli and Palestinian students. As tensions along the Israel-Gaza border grew, she incorporated mindfulness into her curriculum to help her students cope with anxiety. Following retirement, she continued supporting children through puppeteering.
In addition to her books of poetry, Judi practiced mindfulness herself, writing haikus which she posted daily on her Facebook page.
That morning, Judi called paramedics after her husband, Gadi, was shot, but the ambulance never arrived. Terrorists returned and killed Judi as well, ending the lives of two devoted parents, grandparents, and educators.
7. Omer Neutra Z”L
Omer Neutra, 22, a U.S.-Israeli citizen and grandson of Holocaust survivors, was killed on October 7, 2023, during the Hamas invasion of southern Israel, and his body was taken to Gaza. Neutra, a tank platoon commander in the Israel Defense Forces’ 7th Armored Brigade’s 77th Battalion, was ambushed at the border when Hamas terrorists attacked his tank with rocket-propelled grenades and explosives. Two others in the tank, Daniel and Sgt. Shaked Dahan, were also killed, while soldier Nimrod Cohen was abducted alive and later released on October 13, 2023. Dahan’s remains were recovered in August 2024. After more than two years with his body held in Gaza, Omer’s remains were finally returned to Israel on November 2, 2025.
AJC CEO Ted Deutch posted this heartfelt reflection upon Omer’s remains being returned to the Jewish state, writing in part: “I’ve been lucky enough to get to know the Neutra family - an American family from Long Island - since October 7. They’ve been unwavering in their advocacy for Omer and for all of the hostages and their families. The Neutras so deserve the opportunity for closure and the opportunity to bury Omer. And now, they’ll finally have that.”
Omer’s family did not learn of his death for more than a year. In December 2024, Israeli authorities confirmed he had been killed on October 7 and that his body had been taken hostage. The family sat shiva but did not hold a funeral until his remains were returned. Upon his return, his father, Ronen Neutra, said: “Our Omer is on Israeli soil. Finally — so much pain and so much relief!” Quoting from the Book of Jeremiah, he added, “‘There is hope for your future, declares the Lord, and your children shall return to their own land.’”
Born in Manhattan a month after the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, more than a year after his parents immigrated from Israel, Omer grew up with a love for basketball and the New York Knicks, knowing the stats of every player. He led the local chapter of the United Synagogue Youth group and served as captain of the basketball, volleyball, and soccer teams at his Conservative Jewish school from first grade through high school.
After being accepted to Binghamton University in 2020 to study business and medicine, Omer took a gap year in Israel—the country where his parents were raised—and stayed to serve in the IDF’s tank brigade.
Omer is remembered by his family and friends as “warm, funny, and optimistic,” who loved “every person and the country with all his heart,” according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. He is survived by his parents, Orna and Ronen, and his younger siblings Daniel, Keren, Or, and Leah.
8. Keith Siegel
Keith Siegel, 64, U.S.-Israeli citizen originally from North Carolina, was freed from Hamas captivity on February 1, 2025, after 484 days as the first American hostage released in the deal. His release followed the earlier freedom of his wife, Aviva Siegel, a kindergarten teacher originally from South Africa, who was among more than 100 hostages released in a temporary cease-fire deal in November 2023 after 52 days in captivity.
Keith and Aviva had lived on Kibbutz Kfar Aza, near the Gaza border, where he worked as an occupational therapist. On October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists kidnapped the couple during the attack on their kibbutz, driving them into Gaza along with a neighbor and her two children. Keith sustained broken ribs during the capture.
Keith has four children and five grandchildren. Known for his calm demeanor, optimism, and love of the outdoors, he endured harsh conditions while in captivity. His mother, Gladys, still resides in North Carolina in an assisted-living facility, where staff had shielded her from knowing her youngest child was a hostage.
“My parents have an innate faith in the goodness of humankind,” his daughter Elan wrote. “That is why, even after living through decades of conflict, they believe that peace can be reality … Their worldview can be summed up in the conviction that love of humanity will always defeat hatred.”
