Background

On October 7, 2023, thousands of terrorists belonging to the Hamas organization, who arrived from the Gaza Strip, attacked the communities of the Gaza envelope. In the surprise attack, more than 1,100 people from Israel were killed and 251 were abducted to the Gaza Strip. Hamas, an Islamist organization designated as a terrorist organization, has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007, from where it carried out repeated attacks against the State of Israel (rockets and other acts of terror).
Despite the organization’s extremism, the Israeli government apparently preferred it over the Palestinian Authority, since there is no chance of reaching agreements and peace with Hamas that would result in the establishment of a Palestinian state (who later served as Israel’s Minister of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich, even coined the phrase: “Hamas is an asset”).
Likewise, the Israeli government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu ensured the transfer of funds from the State of Qatar to Hamas (suitcases of cash), allegedly “to calm the situation.”

It became clear that the political and military leadership’s concept of “calming Hamas” did not work, and as stated, on October 7, 2023, Hamas operatives (and other Gaza residents) attacked the area adjacent to Gaza, while carrying out acts of murder, rape, abuse, and additional crimes.
There is a high probability that Hamas’s motivation grew due to the plan of Israel’s thirty-seventh government (from December 2022) and Minister of Justice Yariv Levin for a reform of the judicial system, which was announced in January 2023. Had this reform been adopted, it would have weakened the power of the Supreme Court. Following the announcement, protests erupted across the country against what was termed “the regime coup”

 

. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who at the same time was standing trial on charges of breach of trust and bribery, and was also dependent on far-right parties he chose to include in his government, could not (or did not want to) prevent the regime change. The right-wing government ignored warnings from the security forces that national resilience was eroding and that this encouraged Israel’s enemies, and even deepened division and incitement within society.
Following this attack, the IDF launched an operation/war in the Gaza Strip, a war that lasted more than two years.
At the end of the war, the Gaza Strip was almost completely destroyed. Israeli losses amounted to about 2,000 people (including those murdered on October 7), and more than 70,000 people were killed on the other side, in the Gaza Strip.

The Hostages and the Protest
As stated, 251 civilians and soldiers were abducted on that day to the Gaza Strip, many of whom had participated in a nature party held in the area (the Nova Festival)

 

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Immediately after October 7, and once it appeared that the return of the hostages was not the primary mission of the Israeli government, widespread protest actions began calling for a deal to release the hostages (“Bring them home, now!”)

 

. The protest in Israel focused mainly on Tel Aviv Museum Square/Beit Ariela Library Square, which was renamed “Hostages Square”

 

, but also spread abroad, even reaching Mount Etna in Sicily

 

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As part of the protest, many rallies were held, including a regular rally every Saturday night in “Hostages Square.” Numerous installations were also displayed, including “The Empty Chair” - a yellow chair placed in public spaces and left there until the return of the last hostage

 

; clocks counting the time since October 7, 2023

 

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; installations and works of art

 

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and more.

Several attempts to rescue the hostages through military operations succeeded, but in most cases bodies were recovered rather than living hostages. Also remembered is the incident in which three hostages who managed to escape were shot by IDF soldiers who suspected they were Hamas operatives.

In most cases, hostages were returned following negotiated deals: a deal brokered by the State of Qatar with the involvement of U.S. President Joe Biden in November 2023, under which 80 Israelis were returned (and 5 more outside the deal, and 24 foreign workers). In January 2025, a second deal was carried out mediated by U.S. President Joe Biden, President-elect Donald Trump, and the State of Qatar. The deal was supposed to consist of stages, at the end of which all hostages were to return to Israel. In the first stage of the deal, 30 living hostages (including 2 who had been abducted before the war) and 8 deceased were returned to Israel.
The other stages of the deal were never implemented due to violations of the agreement by the Hamas organization and significant violations by the Israeli government.
The final deal was signed in October 2025 with the mediation of the United States, Egypt, Turkey, and Qatar, at the end of which all hostages, living and dead, were returned, with the last hostage returned on January 26, 2026. On that day, the clocks that had counted second by second the time elapsed since October 7, 2023 were stopped

 

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In summary, out of 251 hostages, 166 were returned alive and 85 dead (some of whom died on October 7 and some while in captivity).

Many experts argue that had the Israeli government not thwarted attempts to reach agreements, it would have been possible to return all the hostages long before January 2026, and the number of survivors would have been higher.