As hostage negotiations continue between the Israeli government and Hamas terror leaders, at least ten American-Israeli hostages remain in captivity.
On Monday, Israel and Hamas announced they will extend the ceasefire another two days, during which time the radical Palestinian terrorists will release ten hostages per day.
US State Department officials have repeatedly said they do not have an update on any of the Americans, their whereabouts, conditions or a timeline for release.
‘We don’t have a whole lot of information,’ said National Security Council strategic communicator John Kirby on CBS. He added the government remains hopeful that Hamas will continue to produce lists of hostages they plan to release in the coming days.
Another 11 hostages were released Monday, but none of them were Americans.
‘I know that they’ve been requested, and I know that they, of course, they are on — very high on the list of priorities. At this stage, I cannot yet confirm. And with everything in this whole process happening, you know, we can only confirm once we have hands on and can see and verify for ourselves,’ IDF Spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus said on CNN.
‘The process is a very messy one, where there’s many changes, and until things are hands on and we can see them, we are not going to venture out any statements. As soon as it happens, we will confirm. We will let the families know.’
One American-Israeli hostage has been released so far – four-year-old Abigail Edan, who was freed on Sunday.
Officials have not provided an exact list of the Americans behind held hostage, nor have they said when or whether they expect any Americans to be released. DailyMail.com has compiled a list of some of the US citizens who had been kidnapped by Hamas since the October 7 surprise attack on Israel.
One American-Israeli hostage has been released so far – four-year-old Abigail Edan, who was freed on Sunday
On Monday, Israel and Hamas announced they will extend the ceasefire another two days, during which time the radical Palestinian terrorists will release ten additional hostages per day
Israelis cheer over the weekend as an army helicopter transporting recently freed hostages takes off
Omer Neutra, 22
US-born Israeli soldier Omer Neutra was abducted by Hamas terrorists on the morning of October 7 while he was stationed on the Israel-Gaza border. He was born and raised on Long Island, New York, but went to Israel for a gap year between high school and college and ultimately decided to stay.
After his kidnapping, his mother said that it is known that he was in a Israeli Defense Force tank at the time of the attack, ‘so we know he was taken out of the tank,’ she said.
Omer Neutra, who turned 22 several days after the barbaric October 7 attack, was a member of the IDF stationed on the Israel-Gaza border when he was kidnapped. He is a native of Long Island, New York where he lived until graduating high school
Edan Alexander, 19
A recent New Jersey high school graduate, Edan Alexander was serving in the IDF when he was kidnapped by Hamas during the barbaric October 7 attack.
Earlier this month Back home in Tenafly, New Jersey, hundreds of people gathered to support the Alexander family. Friends of the teen praised his loyalty and sense of humor in a video they made about him. He serving near Israel’s southern border in Gaza when he was taken.
Edan Alexander recently graduated from Tenafly High School in New Jersey and was serving in the IDF’s Golani Brigade 51st Division when he was taken
Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23
Goldberg-Polin was kidnapped from the Supernova musical festival by radical Palestinian terrorists on October 7. Before moving to Israel with his parents, Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg, he lived in Berkeley, California and Richmond, Virginia.
Horrifying footage showed the 23-year-old being loaded at gunpoint into the bed of a pickup truck commandeered by Hamas terrorists after an explosion had blown off half of his left arm. His parents have been relentless in their search for their son and their effort to bring him home.
They flew last month to the United Nations in New York to speak about the hostages. Until April, Hersh had been a tank driver in the 7th Armored Brigade of the IDF. He had also trained to become a medic.
A horrifying video of Goldberg-Polin being loaded into a flat-bed truck driven by Hamas terorrists showed half of his left arm had been blown off
Sagui Dekel-Chen, 35
Sagui Dekel-Chen was kidnapped from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz near Israel’s southern border with Gaza. His American father, Jonathan Dekel-Chen, who is a professor at Hebrew University, has been part of an American delegation of family members of the kidnapped who are telling their stories in order to raise awareness and attention.
Dekel-Chen was able to protect his wife and children before Hamas took him from the kibbutz.
Sagui Dekel-Chen was kidnapped from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz near Israel’s southern border with Gaza
Itay Chen, 19
Chen is an American-Israeli dual citizen, who was serving in the IDF near the Gaza border when he was taken. His father, Ruby Chen, is from the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn.
He described his teenage son as ‘giving,’ while also noting he is an avid Los Angeles Lakers fan. Chen had made the decision to stay at his base near Gaza during the weekend of Simchat Torah, so that he would be able to return home for his younger brother’s bar mitzvah the following weekend.
Itay Chen, a dual US-Israeli citizen was taken from his southern base, where he had stayed for the holiday weekend in order to go home the next weekend for his younger brother’s bar mitzvah
Judy Weinstein, 70 and Gad Haggai, 72
A married couple with roots in America and Canada, the pair were taken after being injured by Hamas terrorists in the fields near Kibutz Nir Oz, where the couple lived.
Following the onset of the ambush, one of the couple’s adult children was told that Judy had called a paramedic station to report their injuries. The couple had both been shot and Gad ‘wasn’t doing well.’ The ambulance that was meant to assist them was blown up by a rocket as gunmen began attacking the kibbutz.
Judy Weinstein and Gad Haggai were
Keith Samuel Siegel, 64
Siegel is a native of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, who moved to Israel some 40 years ago. Keith was taken from Kfar Aza with his wife, Aviva, who was part of a prisoner exchange that took place over the weekend.
According to Bring Them Home Now, Keith works as an occupational therapist. Elsewhere, he and his wife have been described as ‘humanitarian workers living in Kfar Aza.’
North Carolina native Keith Siegel was taken from Kfar Aza with his wife Aviva, who was returned as part of a prisoner exchange over the weekend
Liat Beinin Atzili and Aviv Atzili, both 49
The married couple have been missing from Kibbutz Nir Or since the morning of the terror attack. Liat is American born, and a significant portion of her family, including her sister, still live in the US.
The couple’s house was burned down during the terror attack but there was no sign of a struggle. The next day, Aviv’s phone was geo-located to Gaza.
Liat Beinin Atzili and Aviv Atzili, both of whom have strong ties to the US, are thought to be in Hamas custody after being taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7
There has been no official word when the Americans being held hostage might be released. Situational development, Kirby said, is dependent upon Hamas’ willingness to continue the pause in fighting and release additional batches of hostages.
‘Israelis have said they are willing to continue the pause if more hostages are released,’ he said.
Egypt, the United States, and Qatar helped mediate the agreement.
One complicating factor is how little information Hamas has shared with Israel and outside sources about the condition of the hostages.
A spokesperson for The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, who run the Bring Them Home Now campaign, told Dailymail.com that they are not aware of the condition of any hostage, or how many are still alive.
The spokesperson said: ‘The Red Cross has not been allowed to visit the hostages and provide a proof of life report and a proof of health report.
‘The only proof of life we have received are videos that Hamas has released that are now outdated.’
The last two videos that have been released, she pointed out, have featured people who have been killed.
Furthermore, she said, none of the videos that Hamas has released have had any Americans in them.
‘The last two videos that have been released are people who have been killed, released or still in captivity.’
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk