Palestine

By Nadav Rapaport
Published date: 15 October 2025 17:40 BST
Last update: ~13:00 EDT

On Monday, the last 20 living Israeli captives were released by Hamas in exchange for 1,968 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

For Israel, it marked the end of a chapter of history where the fate of Israelis captured on 7 October 2023 had loomed over society.

For Palestine, meanwhile, more than 9,000 Palestinian prisoners remain in Israeli jails – nearly double the number before Israel’s genocide in Gaza began.

Now, the bodies of the last dead captives are being recovered by Hamas and delivered to Israel.

Middle East Eye breaks down what we know about the Israeli captives, how they were freed and how some of them were killed.