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Profiles If 20 Israeli Hostages Due For Release From Gaza Captivity

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Twenty living Israeli hostages are due for release from captivity in Gaza under a ceasefire deal with Hamas. Militants kidnapped them during Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack on Israel — the deadliest in the country’s history. Here are their profiles:

– Matan Angrest, 22 –

Sergeant Matan Angrest was captured in his tank near the border with the Gaza Strip after trying to stop Hamas commandos from crossing into Israel near the Nahal Oz base. Angrest, who comes from Kiryat Bialik in northern Israel, is a keen supporter of the Maccabi Haifa football team, according to his family.
A video published in April 2025 by his family shows the moment he was abducted from his tank. His family had planned a trip to Dubai to celebrate the end of his military service.

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– Gali and Ziv Berman, 28–

The Berman twins were abducted in the youth area of the Kfar Aza kibbutz, which Hamas attackers set on fire. The inseparable brothers worked together in music production and supported the Maccabi Tel Aviv and Liverpool football clubs. Their parents and elder brother survived the attack.

– Elkana Bohbot, 36 –

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Elkana Bohbot was one of the producers of the Supernova music festival, alongside his childhood friends Michael and Osher Waknin. Along with nearly 370 other people, they were killed in the Hamas attack on the site.
Married to a Colombian woman and father of one boy, Bohbot lived in Mevasseret Tzion, near Jerusalem. Colombian President Gustavo Petro granted him Colombian nationality in November 2023, a month after the attack.

His wife, Rebecca Gonzalez, said in February 2025 that she had received proof of life from former hostage Ohad Ben Ami, released on 8 February.
At the time of his abduction, Bohbot was planning to open an ice cream stall in a Tel Aviv market, according to his parents. In May, he appeared in a video circulated by Hamas alongside another hostage, Yossef-Haim Ohana. He did not speak but appeared visibly weak.

READ ALSO:Trump Gives Update On Israel, Hamas Peace Deal

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– Rom Braslavski, 21 –

Rom Braslavski, an Israeli-German from Jerusalem, was working as a security guard at the Supernova music festival when it was attacked in the early hours of 7 October.
Between 10:30 a.m., when he last contacted his mother, and 1:30 p.m., when he disappeared, he stayed at the scene, helping to protect others, according to witnesses who escaped. Both his hands were injured during the attack.
In August 2025, Hamas ally Islamic Jihad published a video showing Braslavski looking frail and speaking under duress.

– Nimrod Cohen, 21 –

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Hamas videos showed Nimrod Cohen being dragged with three other soldiers from his assault tank, which had faulty brakes, near the Nahal Oz kibbutz. The three other soldiers — Omer Neutra, Oz Daniel, and Shaked Dahan — were killed, and their bodies taken to Gaza. Dahan’s body was later repatriated to Israel.
Cohen, from Rehovot, south of Tel Aviv, always carried a Rubik’s cube, which his mother now keeps — partially burned — from his tank. His parents have been active in raising awareness of the hostages’ plight and pressing for their release.

– David and Ariel Cunio, 35 and 28 –

Israeli-Argentinian brothers David and Ariel Cunio were kidnapped along with several relatives while hiding in the safe room of David’s home in the Nir Oz kibbutz. Gunmen set fire to the house to force them out, then took eight people hostage — the largest number from a single family in the 7 October attack. Six relatives have since been released.
Israeli film director Tom Shoval presented A Letter to David, a tribute, at the Berlin Film Festival in February. The documentary later won the Ophir Award, Israel’s most prestigious film honour.
In 2013, David and his twin brother Eitan starred in Shoval’s film Youth. Eitan escaped the attack by hiding in his shelter at Nir Oz. The brothers share identical tattoos — three small dark green stars on their wrists.
At the Berlin festival, several actors and directors held up a photo of David Cunio on the red carpet.

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– Evyatar David, 24 –

Evyatar David’s parents learnt that he had been taken hostage into Gaza from a photo posted on Telegram, his face illuminated by torchlight.
He was at the Supernova festival with his childhood friend Guy Gilboa Dalal, who was also taken hostage and is believed to be alive.
A music lover from Kfar Saba in central Israel, David was working in a café and saving for a trip to Thailand before his abduction.
In August 2025, Hamas released a propaganda video showing him severely undernourished and holding a shovel, claiming he was digging his own grave.

READ ALSO:Israeli Mission To Bolster Wellbeing Of Orphans In Nigeria

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– Guy Gilboa Dalal, 24 –

Guy Gilboa Dalal was abducted from the Supernova festival, his first rave party, along with three friends, including Evyatar David.
His family quickly learnt of his kidnapping from a video showing him and David tied up in a Gaza tunnel.
A hostage freed in June during an Israeli army operation said Gilboa Dalal had been injured by his captors.
He and David were shown in a February 2025 Hamas video watching a hostage release ceremony before being locked in a car, pleading for their freedom.
On 5 September, he appeared in another Hamas video with hostage Alon Ohel in a tunnel. A lover of Japanese culture, he had been studying the language with hopes of visiting Japan one day.

– Maxim Herkin, 37 –

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Israeli-Russian national Maxim Herkin moved to Israel from Ukraine with his mother. He lived in Tirat Carmel, northern Israel, and is the father of a five-year-old girl who lives with her mother in Russia.
Before being kidnapped from the Supernova festival, he messaged his mother: “All is well. I’m coming home.”
In spring 2025, Hamas’s armed wing released a video showing Herkin lying down and apparently injured, with his head and left arm covered in blood-stained bandages.

– Eitan Horn, 39 –

Eitan Horn, from Argentina, was kidnapped with his elder brother Yair from the latter’s home in Nir Oz kibbutz.
He lived in Kfar Saba and worked in education, involved in youth movements. His family had emigrated from Argentina years earlier.
His brother, Yair, who is diabetic, was released in late February 2025.

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– Segev Kalfon, 27 –

Segev Kalfon, from Dimona in southern Israel, worked with his parents at their bakery in Arad, in the Negev desert.
A childhood friend who attended the Supernova festival with him said Kalfon was captured as he tried to hide in the bushes along Route 232, the only exit from the festival, running parallel to the Gaza border.
A released hostage told Kalfon’s family he had spent time in captivity with him.

READ ALSO:Israel-Palestine Conflict: Nigeria, 141 Countries Endorse Two-State Solution

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– Bar Kuperstein, 23 –

During the Hamas attack on the Supernova festival, army nurse Bar Kuperstein, who turned 23 in April, stayed behind to help the wounded before being abducted.
He was a festival staff member but was not on duty that day.
Videos showing him bound appeared soon after the attack.
Kuperstein, from Holon, a suburb of Tel Aviv, took on major responsibilities at home after his father, Tal Kuperstein, was left disabled in an accident. His father has since partially regained the ability to speak and move and has been longing for his son’s return.
A rescue worker like his father, Bar once saved his grandfather’s life during a heart attack — just two months before being taken hostage.

– Omri Miran, 48 –

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Israeli-Hungarian therapeutic masseur Omri Miran was taken from his home in Nahal Oz kibbutz in front of his wife, Lichay, and their two small daughters.
He appeared in an undated Hamas video released on 27 April 2024, saying, “I have been in Hamas captivity for 202 days. The situation here is unpleasant and difficult, and there are many bombs.”
Appearing to speak under duress, he urged his family to pressure the Israeli government to reach a deal.
His father, Dani, told AFP he grew a beard in solidarity with his son. Miran later appeared in another Hamas video released on 23 April 2025.

READ ALSO:Israeli Strikes In Yemen’s Capital Kill Two, Say Rebels

– Eitan Mor, 25 –

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Security guard Eitan Mor was abducted from Supernova.
The son of a practising Jewish family in the Kiryat Arba settlement in the occupied West Bank, his father, Tzvika Mor, founded the Forum of Hope — a group of hostages’ parents opposed to a deal with Hamas.

– Yosef Haim Ohana, 25 –

Yosef-Haim Ohana, from Kiryat Malakhi in southern Israel, was working as a barman at Supernova and planned to study sports coaching.
He was seen trying to help injured people before attempting to flee. His brother, Acher-Yitzhak, died of cancer at age seven.
Ohana appeared in a Hamas video in May 2025 alongside hostage Elkana Bohbot.

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– Alon Ohel, 24 –

A talented pianist with Serbian and German nationality, Alon Ohel planned to begin music studies after returning from a trip to Asia.
He was abducted at Supernova while trying to hide with three other young men.
From the village of Lavon in northern Israel, his family said in February 2025 that they had received proof of life from released hostages, who said he was wounded and untreated.

– Avinatan Or, 32 –

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Dual British-Israeli national Avinatan Or comes from a religious Jewish family of seven children in the Shilo settlement, West Bank.
His partner, Noa Argamani, was abducted with him at Supernova but was freed in an Israeli military operation in June 2024.
He was planning to move in with her in Beersheba, where he studied engineering.

– Matan Zangauker, 25 –

Matan Zangauker was kidnapped from his home in Nir Oz kibbutz with his Israeli-Mexican girlfriend, Ilana Gritzewsky, who was released in November 2023 during the first truce of the two-year war.
Zangauker’s mother, Einav, and Gritzewsky have since become prominent advocates for the hostages’ cause.
Zangauker enjoys aeromodelling and worked on the kibbutz’s medical cannabis farm.

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12 Feared Dead In Kenya Light Aircraft Crash

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A small plane travelling from Kenya’s coast crashed on Tuesday, according to the country’s aviation authority, with the 12 people on board feared dead.

The small plane was en route to Kichwa Tembo — a private airstrip located in the Maasai Mara National Park — from the tourist hotspot of Diani when it came down at around 5:30am local time (0230 GMT).

“The aircraft had 12 persons on board,” a statement from the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) said.

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It gave no further details, but said that government agencies were already on site to establish the cause of the accident.

READ ALSO:Putin Admits Russia Caused Azerbaijani Plane Crash

The Guardian reports that plane crashes are fairly common in Kenya in the last 18 months. On March 5, 2024, a mid-air collision between a Safarilink Aviation commercial flight and a 99 Flying School training aircraft occurred over the Nairobi National Park, resulting in two fatalities.

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The incident took place shortly after both aircraft had departed Wilson Airport. The collision involved Safarilink Aviation Flight 053, a De Havilland Canada Dash 8 carrying 39 passengers and five crew members, and a 99 Flying School Cessna 172M.

AMREF Aircraft Crash

In August, a light aircraft belonging to the AMREF Flying Doctors crashed into a residential area in Mwihoko, Ruiru, Kiambu County, killing six people and injuring at least two others.

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The aircraft, a Cessna Citation XLS (registration 5Y-FDM), had taken off from Wilson Airport and was en route to Hargeisa, Somalia, when it went down under unclear circumstances.

READ ALSO:Fire On Board Forces Lagos-Atlanta-bound Aircraft Diversion To Ghana

AMREF Flying Doctors CEO Stephen Gitau issued a statement confirming the incident. Mr Gitau noted that the aircraft departed Wilson Airport at 2.17 PM before crashing in Mwihoko. He stated that the organisation is “cooperating fully with relevant aviation authorities and emergency response teams to establish the facts surrounding the situation.”

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Foreign Couple Killed in Kenyan Plane Crash, Earlier in January, a light aircraft crash killed a foreign couple aboard. The accident involved a Cessna 185 aircraft that departed from Nairobi and was en route to Mbaruk in Nakuru County. It went down in the lakeside town of Naivasha at approximately 5:14 p.m. local time (1414 GMT).

At the time, Naivasha Police Deputy Chief Charles Mwai suggested that poor visibility due to fog in the area might have been a contributing factor. Aviation experts have been called to the scene to conduct an investigation.

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UK Police Arrest Asylum Seeker Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed

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The UK police on Sunday arrested an Ethiopian asylum seeker and convicted sex offender, whose crimes had sparked anti-immigration protests, after he was accidentally released from prison in an embarrassing blunder by British authorities.

London’s Metropolitan Police said officers arrested Hadush Kebatu in the north of the capital on Sunday morning, nearly 48 hours after he was mistakenly freed around 30 miles (48 kilometres) away.

Kebatu, 38, had served the first month of a one-year sentence for sexually assaulting a teenage girl and a woman, but was reportedly due to be deported when the Prison Service error occurred on Friday.

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His high-profile case earlier this year in Epping, northeast of London, sparked demonstrations in various English towns and cities where asylum seekers were believed to be housed, as well as counter-protests.

READ ALSO:UK Police Hunt Asylum Seeker Mistakenly Freed For Sex Offence

Commander James Conway, who oversaw the manhunt for him, said “information from the public” led officers to the Finsbury Park neighbourhood of London, where he was found.

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He was detained by police but will be returned to the custody of the Prison Service,” he added.

Kebatu is now expected to be deported.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Friday he was “appalled” by the “totally unacceptable” mistake that saw him freed rather than sent to an immigration detention centre.

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The Telegraph newspaper said he was wrongly categorised for release on licence and handed a £76 ($101) discharge grant.

READ ALSO:Alleged Misappropriation: MFM Accuses UK Agency Of Discrimination

Police had appealed Saturday for Kebatu to turn himself in, after reports emerged that he had appeared confused and reluctant to leave the prison in Chelmsford, eastern England.

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A delivery driver described seeing Kebatu return several times in a “very confused” state, only to be turned away by staff and directed to the railway station.

The driver told Sky News he saw Kebatu outside the jail, asking, “Where am I going? What am I doing?”

He was starting to get upset, he was getting stressed,” the driver said.

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READ ALSO:UK Is A Home, Not Hotel, Kemi Badenoch Tells Immigrants, Starmer’s Govt

The father of Kebatu’s anonymous teenage victim told the broadcaster that “the justice system has let us down.”

Police arrested the asylum seeker in July after he repeatedly tried to kiss a 14-year-old girl and touch her legs, and made sexually explicit comments to her.

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He also sexually assaulted an adult woman, placing a hand on her thigh, when she intervened to stop his interactions with the girl.

He was staying at the time at Epping’s Bell Hotel, where scores of other asylum seekers have been accommodated, and which became the target of repeated protests.

AFP

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Madagascar Revokes Ousted President’s Nationality

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Madagascar’s new government has stripped ousted president Andry Rajoelina of his Malagasy nationality in a decree published Friday, 10 days after he was removed in a military takeover.

According to AFP, the decree means that Rajoelina, who was impeached on October 14 after fleeing the island nation in the wake of weeks of protests, would not be able to contest future election.

The decree published in the official gazette said Rajoelina’s Malagasy nationality was revoked because he had acquired French nationality in 2014, local media reported, as photographs of the document were shared online.

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READ ALSO:Madagascar’s President Denounces ‘Coup Attempt’ As Gen Z Protests Escalate

French broadcaster RFI said it had confirmed the decree with the entourage of the new prime minister, Herintsalama Rajaonarivelo, who signed the order.

The decree cited laws stipulating that a Malagasy who voluntarily acquires a foreign nationality loses their Malagasy nationality.

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Rajoelina’s French nationality caused a scandal when it was revealed ahead of the November 2023 elections, nearly 10 years after it was granted.

READ ALSO:Madagascar Passes Bill To Castrate Child R*pists

It triggered calls for him to be disqualified but he went on to win the contested polls, which were boycotted by opposition parties.

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The 51-year-old politician fled Madagascar after army Colonel Michael Randrianirina said on October 11 his CAPSAT unit would refuse orders to put down the youth-led protest movement, which security forces had attempted to suppress with violence.

Rajoelina said later he was in hiding for his safety, but did not say where.

Randrianirina was sworn in as president on October 14, pledging elections within two years.

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