Hostages
Community members stand in solidarity with the hostages at a vigil in Squirrel Hill (Photo by Sandy Zell)
February 2, 2026, 4:16 pm
Jewish Pittsburghers react to return of final hostage, Ran Gvili, from Gaza
“I think the entire Jewish people have breathed a sign of relief.”
By David Rullo
Israel Border Police Master Sgt. Ran Gvili. (Source: Israel Hayom via JNS)
January 28, 2026, 10:10 am
With Ran Gvili’s return Israel’s leadership fulfills sacred obligation to the nation it failed on Oct. 7
Hamas is not destroyed, and aims to recover. But the war’s other essential goal, the return of all the hostages, has been achieved — to the very last one
By David Horovitz
A photograph shows a banner bearing a portrait Ran Gvili, the last hostage held in Gaza, the day after his remains were brought home by Israeli forces, in Hostage Square in Tel Aviv on Jan. 27, 2026. (Jack GUEZ / AFP)
January 27, 2026, 11:01 am
Jewish world marks first day with no hostages in Gaza by shedding their symbols of support
Rachel Goldberg-Polin and Jon Polin said they were taking off their famous masking tape.
By Philissa Cramer
Israel Border Police Master Sgt. Ran Gvili. (Source: Israel Hayom via JNS)
January 26, 2026, 10:23 am
IDF recovers body of Ran Gvili, last hostage in Gaza
"With this, all the hostages from the Gaza Strip area have been returned," the IDF stated.
By JNS Staff
Israel tent photo. (Andrew France, courtesy of flickr.com)
December 10, 2025, 9:26 am
How goodly were these tents
Among the changes that have occurred very quickly is the physical landscape that we came to know over the past two years.
By Judy Mars Kupchan
Eli Sharabi talks with Laura Cherner during a Dec. 7 conversation at Poale Zedeck. (Photo by David Rullo)
December 9, 2025, 1:16 pm
Former hostage Eli Sharabi visits Pittsburgh
"I’m here and life is here and I love life.”
By David Rullo
Israelis attend a rally outside the southern Israeli city of Sderot, calling for the release of slain hostages Ran Gvili and Sudthisak Rinthalak, whose bodies are still held by Hamas in Gaza, Nov. 29, 2025. (Tsafrir Abayov/Flash90)
December 4, 2025, 4:00 pm
Hostage’s remains returned to Israel; Trump says ceasefire’s next phase to ‘happen pretty soon’
There is now just a single Israeli hostage remaining in Gaza.
By Philissa Cramer
Alon Ohel with his family at the initial absorption point, Oct. 13, 2025. (Credit: IDF Spokesperson's Office)
December 3, 2025, 9:41 am
Alon Ohel reveals how he survived two years of torment in Gaza
Though bound, starved and abused, the former hostage never gave up. His determination to return to his family kept him going.
By David Isaac
Released hostage Eli Sharabi reunites with his mother Chana and sister Osnat at an army facility near the Gaza border after 491 days in Hamas captivity, Feb. 8, 2025. His wife and two daughters were murdered by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023. (Photo courtesy of the IDF)
November 20, 2025, 3:48 pm
491 days in Hamas’ hands
Among the 251 people kidnapped by Hamas, Sharabi was uniquely suited to write this book.
By Jeffrey Spitz Cohan
Lt. Hadar Goldin, killed in Gaza on August 1, 2014. (Courtesy)
November 9, 2025, 12:32 pm
After 4,118 days in Gaza, body of IDF soldier Hadar Goldin is back in Israel
Hamas said that it retrieved the body from a tunnel in Rafah.
By Emanual Fabian
IDF Staff. Sgt. Itay Chen's family and Israeli President Isaac Herzog (left), attend his funeral at the Kiryat Shaul Cemetery in Tel Aviv, Nov, 9, 2025.(Photo by Haim Zach/GPO)
November 9, 2025, 10:28 am
Thousands accompany former hostage Itay Chen to final resting place
“It's so terrible that it's the end. I understand that I will have to accept that I will not be able to hug you anymore,” said his mother, Hagit Chen.
By JNS Staff
Rom Braslavski on his way back to Israel after two years in captivity in Gaza, October 13, 2025. (Government Press Office)
November 6, 2025, 5:47 am
‘I was torn apart, dying’: Rom Braslavski says captors sexually assaulted, tortured him
‘It was sexual violence, and its main purpose was to humiliate me,’ ex-hostage says. ‘I’d say to myself: ‘I survived another day in hell. Tomorrow I’ll wake up to another hell”
By ToI Staff
Ronen and Orna Neutra, with their son Daniel, speak at the Midway Jewish Center on Long Island during a memorial service for their son, Omer Neutra, an Israeli American soldier killed on Oct. 7, in Syosset, New York, Dec. 3, 2024. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
November 3, 2025, 10:30 am
Remains of Omer Neutra, Israeli-American hostage, returned to Israel
Neutra was one of two American citizens still by Hamas held weeks into a ceasefire that required their release.
By Philissa Cramer
Hamas uses bulldozers to search for the bodies of Israeli hostages who were held in Khan Yunis, the southern Gaza Strip, Oct. 18, 2025. (Photo by Saeed Mohammed/Flash90)
November 1, 2025, 8:26 pm
Hamas again hands over remains that don’t belong to hostages
The terrorist group could immediately recover at least two bodies, Israeli authorities say.
By JNS Staff
Former hostage Alon Ohel, wearing an eye patch, waves to supporters during a homecoming celebration on October 24, 2025 in Lavon, Israel. (Amir Levy/Getty Images)
October 31, 2025, 10:42 am
Freed hostage Alon Ohel plays piano on Israeli sketch comedy show ‘Eretz Nehederet’
Ohel’s performance comes as other freed hostages’ return to public life has drawn celebration, and mourning.
By Grace Gilson
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