A total of 20 Hamas hostages are believed to still be alive today after two years of war in the Gaza Strip. According to the Israeli government, these people are expected to be released within the next few hours, all of them at the same time.

It is recalled that another 26 hostages are presumed dead and the fate of two more remains unknown. Hamas has stated that the recovery of the bodies of the dead hostages for handover to Israel may take a long time.

In exchange, Israel has agreed to release 250 prisoners for security reasons, including individuals convicted of deadly attacks against Israelis, as well as another 1,700 Palestinians captured by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip after the outbreak of the war.

Matan Agrest, 22

In June, Agrest's family released a video showing the 22-year-old, who served in the Israeli army, being dragged out of a tank by dozens of men at the Nahal Oz military base on October 7, 2023.

For me, as a mother, it's the hardest thing to watch, Anat Agrest told CNN, explaining that she decided to release the video out of fear that her son had been abandoned and forgotten by the authorities.

Gali Berman and Ziv Berman, 28 years old

These are twin brothers who were kidnapped in Kibbutz Kfar Azza, about three kilometers from the border with Gaza.

Speaking to the Guardian a month after their abduction, their older brother, Liran Berman, said their lives would never be the same again."We had our lives before October 7, and now we don't know what will happen in the future. Even if my siblings are released, they will be scarred for life," he said.

Elkana Bohbot, 36 years old

Bohbot was captured at the Nova music festival during the attack on October 7, 2023. He had reportedly stayed behind to help the wounded during the attacks.

In May, he was identified as the hostage who appeared in a video released by Hamas' armed wing. The video showed Bohbot saying that Israeli shelling could cost him his life and begging to be reunited with his wife and son.

Rom Braslavsky, 21

Braslavsky was also kidnapped at the Nova music festival, where he was working as a security guard. His family later learned that he had saved several people before he was kidnapped.

In April, he appeared in a video filmed by his captors in Gaza. The video, in which he appeared extremely exhausted, sparked international outrage.

Nimrod Cohen, 20 years old

Cohen, a corporal in the Israeli army, was guarding the area near Kibbutz Nirim, near the Gaza border, when his unit was attacked by Hamas militants.

This week, when news of the ceasefire agreements broke, his father said that this moment could have come much sooner. Let these three days pass without anyone trying to sabotage them.

Ariel Cunio, 28 years old, and David Cunio, 35 years old

The two brothers were kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz. Ariel was kidnapped along with his girlfriend, Arbel Yehud, who was released in January, while David was kidnapped along with his wife, Sharon Aloni Kunio, who was released in November 2023 along with their three-year-old twin daughters, Emma and Yuli.

Ariel and David's father, Luis Cunha, wrote an article in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz this week detailing how the family lived in the unknown for two years. His granddaughters don't understand why their father and uncle haven't returned. They live the trauma every day, he wrote. At night they wake up crying. It's very difficult for us. I hope to see you soon, so hold on. We have no choice but to believe that, eventually, this story will end.

Eviatar David, 24

David was kidnapped at the Nova music festival. In August, his family expressed fears that Hamas was starving him after a video showed him saying he had not eaten for days and was being given almost no water to drink.

The video sparked anger and frustration across Israel. In statements made under pressure, David appeared to urge Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to agree to a ceasefire.

Guy Gilboa-Dalal, 24 years old

Gilboa-Dalal was at the Nova festival, dancing with his brother in a forest a few kilometers from Gaza. Shortly afterwards, he was kidnapped by Hamas.

"It's very hard to miss him all day, every day, to think about him all day, every day," his brother told the Guardian this week."As time goes on, it gets harder and harder [to bear it] and harder and harder to see the light at the end of the tunnel."

Maxim Kherkin, 37 years old

Herkin was also at the Nova music festival when he was kidnapped. He is a Russian-Israeli who had attended the event by chance after being invited by friends at the last minute, according to the Times of Israel.

Born in the Donbas region of Ukraine, he has a three-year-old daughter and was the main support for his mother and 11-year-old brother.

Eitan Horn, 38 years old

Horn was kidnapped along with his brother, Yair, from Yair's home on Kibbutz Nir Oz.

Yair was released in February and told the Times of Israel in July that he is focused on freeing his brother and the other hostages still in Gaza. My life is frozen right now. I am living in a nightmare where every day I am kidnapped again .

Segev Kalfon, 27

Kalfon was kidnapped as he tried to leave the Nova festival. He had earlier spoken to his family on the phone while the vehicle he was in was moving slowly, stuck in a traffic jam due to mass abandonment of the area.

"We were on the phone with him for an hour, until 8:10 a.m.," his father, Kobi Kalfon, told the Times of Israel in July."It was crazy, the pressure was immense. I just told them to run."

Bar Cooperstein, 23 years old

Cooperstein was kidnapped at the Nova music festival, where he worked as a doorman. During the attack, he remained at the venue to assist Israeli police and security personnel who were providing first aid to the injured, according to the Jerusalem Post.

In May, his family was among thousands of Israelis who took to the streets to demand a ceasefire so that the remaining hostages could return from Gaza. The only thing that keeps us alive is the hope that Bar is alive and surviving, his aunt, Ora Rubinstein, told Reuters at the time.

Omri Miran, 48 years old

Miran was at his home in Kibbutz Nahal Oz with his wife, Lishai Lavi, and their daughters, Roni and Alma, when they were awakened by the sound of war sirens. They all went to the shelter they had.

Hamas fighters, however, forced a boy, their neighbor, to knock on the door of the shelter, making it clear that the teenager and his family would be shot if they did not open. The family opened the door, and Miran was eventually tied up and led away, according to his wife.

Eitan Mor, 25 years old

Mor worked as a security guard at the Nova music festival. According to the Times of Israel, a survivor later said he saw Mor and a friend carrying people to safety before he was finally kidnapped.

Yosef-Chaim Ohana, 25

In February, Ohana's family said, without giving further details, that he had received a clear sign that he was alive after being captured at the Nova music festival.

According to the Times of Israel, at the time of his kidnapping, he and a friend were trying to help injured people attending the festival.

Alon Ohel, 24 years old

Ohel was kidnapped at the Nova festival. In August, his mother wrote an article for the Observer, pleading with leaders around the world to do something to end the war and bring the hostages back to Israel.

Avinatan Or, 32 years old

Abinatan was kidnapped at gunpoint along with his girlfriend, Noa Argamani, at the Nova music festival. Argamani was released after 245 days of being held hostage.

Speaking this week, Argamani said:"Avinath cannot be described in words. There is a quiet strength within him that radiates peace."

Matan Zangauker, 25 years old

Zangauker was kidnapped along with his partner, Ilana Grizhevsky, from their home on Kibbutz Nir Oz. Grizhevsky was released in November 2023.

In a letter published this week, his mother, Einav Zangauker, said she hopes to be able to hug her son soon. For two years now, I have imagined holding you close to my chest, like a mother hugs her newborn child, she wrote in the Haaretz newspaper. I wonder what the first words I will say to you will be. I long to hear you call me mom. I cannot imagine the moment when I will have you close to me again .