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Thursday

Vehicles with the International Committee of the Red Cross arrive, while Palestinian militants and civilians stand by, for the release of Israeli hostage Agam Berger in Jabalia, Gaza Strip, Thursday.

Vehicles with the International Committee of the Red Cross arrive, while Palestinian militants and civilians stand by, for the release of Israeli hostage Agam Berger in Jabalia, Gaza Strip, Thursday. Anas Baba/NPR hide caption

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Anas Baba/NPR

Middle East crisis — explained

3 Israeli and 5 Thai hostages are freed in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners

Three more Israeli and five Thai hostages have been released by Palestinian militants from captivity and returned to Israel, after being held for more than 15 months in Gaza.

Friday

Hamas has named the next 4 hostages it will release as part of ceasefire with Israel

From left: Liri Albag, 19; Karina Ariev, 20; Daniella Gilboa, 20; and Naama Levy, 20, are the hostages identified by Hamas to be released next from captivity in Gaza. Hostages and Missing Families Forum hide caption

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Hostages and Missing Families Forum

Middle East crisis — explained

Hamas has named the next 4 hostages it will release as part of ceasefire with Israel

All four hostages are female Israeli soldiers. They are expected to be released Saturday in accordance with a ceasefire agreement with Israel that's halted fighting in the Gaza war since last weekend.

Sunday

Saturday

Tuesday

President-elect Donald Trump walks from the podium after a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla.

President-elect Donald Trump walks from the podium after a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. Evan Vucci/AP hide caption

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Evan Vucci/AP

Politics

Trump in news conference says 'all hell will break out' if Gaza hostages not released

The president-elect made a similar pledge on social media in early December. His latest comments came during a wide-ranging news conference from Mar-a-Lago.

Trump press conference

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Monday

A woman passes by a wall covered with photos of hostages.

A woman in Kfar Saba, Israel, passes a wall on Monday covered with photos of hostages kidnapped to the Gaza Strip during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack. Amir Levy/Getty Images hide caption

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Amir Levy/Getty Images

Middle East crisis — explained

Hamas and Israel are negotiating the release of 34 hostages from Gaza

The deal would secure release of a third of the approximately 100 hostages who remain in Gaza, including two dual U.S.-Israeli nationals. In return, Israel would release some Palestinian prisoners.

Tuesday

Qaid Farhan Al-Qadi, 52, sits in a room at the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, Israel, after Israeli forces say he was found alone in a tunnel in Gaza.

Qaid Farhan Al-Qadi, 52, sits in a room at the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, Israel, after Israeli forces say he was found alone in a tunnel in Gaza. Israel Prime Minister Office/AP hide caption

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Israel Prime Minister Office/AP

Middle East crisis — explained

Israel says it rescued a hostage found alone in an underground tunnel in Gaza

Qaid Farhan Alkadi, 52, was taken to a hospital in Israel, where members of his large Bedouin Arab family gathered around his bedside in a joyful reunion.

Friday

Family members at the funeral of Avraham Munder, 79, in Nir Oz, Israel on August 22.

Family members attend the funeral of Abraham Munder, 79, in Nir Oz, Israel, on Aug. 22. He was taken hostage from Israel in a Hamas-led attack last Oct. 7 and his body was one of six recovered by Israeli forces from Gaza this week. Maya Levin for NPR hide caption

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Maya Levin for NPR

Middle East crisis — explained

Hostages are laid to rest in Israel as a new round of cease-fire talks is expected

Families held funerals for six hostages whose bodies were recovered from Gaza. Many in Israel think the next round of cease-fire talks may be the last chance to bring home hostages who remain alive.

Israel holds hostage funerals

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Tuesday

This undated photo provided by the Hostages Families Forum shows Avraham Munder, who was held hostage by Hamas militants in Gaza. On Tuesday, Kibbutz Nir Oz announced Munder died while in Hamas captivity.

This undated photo provided by the Hostages Families Forum shows Avraham Munder, who was held hostage by Hamas militants in Gaza. On Tuesday, Kibbutz Nir Oz announced Munder died while in Hamas captivity. The Hostages Families Forum/AP hide caption

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The Hostages Families Forum/AP

Middle East crisis — explained

Israel says it recovered 6 hostages' bodies in Gaza

The Israeli military recovered the bodies of six hostages taken to Gaza in Hamas' Oct. 7 attack. Hamas says some captives have been killed and wounded in Israeli airstrikes.

Monday

Can the U.S. force a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas?

Palestinians walk among the rubble after four hostages were rescued from Gaza in an Israeli rescue operation on Saturday. Anas Baba/NPR hide caption

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Consider This from NPR

Can the U.S. force a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas?

On Saturday, Israeli special forces rescued four hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, killing at least 270 Palestinians and injuring hundreds in the process.

Can the U.S. force a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas?

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Friday

Israel recovers the bodies of 3 hostages

Passersby observe the photos of hostages held in the Gaza Strip that are plastered to the walls of a plaza known as Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, Israel, Friday, May 17, 2024. Oded Balilty/AP hide caption

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Oded Balilty/AP

Middle East crisis — explained

Israel recovers the bodies of 3 hostages

The three were identified as Shani Louk, Amit Buskila and Yitzhak Gelernter. Israel's military said they had been killed by Hamas militants when they attacked a music festival on Oct. 7.

Tuesday

A freed Israeli hostage waits with hope for her husband, still held by Hamas in Gaza

Aviva Siegel, who was held hostage in Gaza for 51 days, and whose husband Keith remains in Hamas captivity, spends time with her eight-year-old granddaughter Yali Tiv at her daughter's home on Kibbutz Gazit on March 26. Aviva has been staying with her daughter in northern Israel since being released in November. Tamir Kalifa for NPR hide caption

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Tamir Kalifa for NPR

The Picture Show

A freed Israeli hostage waits with hope for her husband, still held by Hamas in Gaza

Aviva Siegel, 63, was taken hostage by Hamas militants on Oct. 7, along with her husband Keith. She was released after 51 days, but he was not. On Saturday, Hamas released a video showing Keith alive.

Saturday

Hamas releases video of a second American being held hostage in Gaza

Tal Wax holds a poster with a photograph of her uncle Keith Siegel, a hostage held in Gaza since the Oct. 7 attacks, during a press conference in Madrid, Spain, on Jan. 25. Manu Fernandez/AP hide caption

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Manu Fernandez/AP

Middle East crisis — explained

Hamas releases video of a second American being held hostage in Gaza

Hamas has released a video showing two captives, one of them an American, as part of an effort to prove that the two men are still alive. It was the second video of a U.S. citizen released this week.

Sunday

Terry Anderson, AP reporter held captive for years, dies at 76

Terry Anderson, who was the longest held American hostage in Lebanon, grins with his 6-year-old daughter Sulome, Dec. 4, 1991, as they leave the U.S. Ambassador's residence in Damascus, Syria, following Anderson's release. Santiago Lyon/AP hide caption

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Santiago Lyon/AP

Obituaries

Terry Anderson, AP reporter held captive for years, dies at 76

Snatched from a street in war-torn Lebanon in 1985, reporter Terry Andersen chronicled his years of imprisonment in a 1993 best-selling book. He died at home in New York on Sunday.

Gaza hostages raise painful reminders as Jews prepare for Passover

At Sinai Temple in west Los Angeles, blue ribbon marks off more than 130 seats that stand as reminders of the hostages who remain in Gaza following the Oct. 7 attack on Israel Jason DeRose hide caption

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Jason DeRose

Middle East crisis — explained

Gaza hostages raise painful reminders as Jews prepare for Passover

Among the themes of Passover is freedom from captivity. For many Jews this year, the holiday brings up the pain of knowledge that hostages are still captive after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

Gaza hostages raise painful reminders as Jews prepare for Passover

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