At least two American hostages held by Hamas in Gaza will be returned to their families as part of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement, according to several reports.
Israeli and Hamas officials reached a ceasefire agreement on Wednesday in the 15-month conflict in Gaza, President Joe Biden announced Wednesday. The deal has been confirmed by the U.S. and Qatar, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said late Wednesday the deal is not yet complete, according to the Associated Press.
The Israel-Hamas conflict began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas militants launched a surprise attack in Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking another 250 people hostage. In response, Israel launched a 15-month offensive in Gaza, killing more than 46,000 Palestinians, the majority of whom were women and children, according to the Palestinian Health Authority.
Seven Americans were taken hostage then by Hamas. Three are believed to be alive, while four are believed to have been killed and their remains have yet to be returned, CNN reports.
Biden declined to reveal the identities of the American hostages set to be released. However, Reuters and CNN later reported their identities, citing senior administration officials, as Keith Siegel and Sagui Dekel-Chen.
Siegel, 64, is a father and grandfather. He’s described by his family as an optimist and lover of the outdoors, according to the American Jewish Committee. He was taken hostage with his wife, who was released in 2023. Dekel-Chen, 35, is a father of three described by his loved ones as a “builder and a creator.”
Siegel and Dekel-Chen are expected to be released during the first phase of the agreement. However, Dekel-Chen’s father, Jonathan Dekel-Chen, told The Independent he still has very little information about his son’s status.
“I’m a parent of a hostage who is completely in the dark,” he said. “We don’t have solid information about Sagui or any of the other hostages, who is alive or who is not.”
He complained that Hamas has not allowed international aid groups like the Red Cross or Red Crescent to check on the status of the hostages.
Dekel-Chen was kidnapped from Nir Oz kibbutz during the Hamas attack, after he helped alert his fellow kibbutz residents when he spotted heavily armed Hamas fighters entering the area. Before he was captured, he was up early tinkering on his hobby, converting old vehicles into movable projects like food markets to serve under-resourced communities in southern Israel, his father told The Independent in 2023.
The third American believed to be alive is Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old Israeli Defense Forces soldier from New Jersey. A senior Biden administration official told the Associated Press he will likely be released at a later date, during the second phase of the ceasefire agreement.
“We are committed to getting all Americans, these are American-Israeli citizens, all of them out of Gaza, whether living or remains. That is our commitment,” a White House official told ABC News.
Phase one of the deal states that Hamas officials will release a total of 33 hostages, many of whom are children, women and people over 50. In return, Israeli officials will release 50 Palestinian prisoners held in their jails for every Israeli female soldier released by Hamas, and 30 Palestinian prisoners for other hostages held by Hamas.
Phase two of the agreement will include negotiating a permanent end to the Israel-Hamas conflict, Biden said.
