Jerusalem, 29 January, 2026 (TPS-IL) — Israel’s military announced that it is winding down its Hostages and Missing Persons Headquarters after successfully recovering all 255 hostages taken during and before the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023. The specialized unit, which operated for over two years under the Military Intelligence Directorate, will move to a dormant status, ready for future emergencies.
“The scenario in which everyone returned is beyond all imagination; we did not assess that we would reach this situation,” a senior officer in the unit said in a phone call with reporters.
The headquarters was established in the chaotic aftermath of the October 7 terror attack, initially grappling with reports of approximately 3,100 missing persons. That number gradually decreased as the unit worked to identify victims, survivors, and those actually taken hostage. It took until the end of 2024 to confirm the final count of 251 people abducted on October 7, plus four Israelis who had been held in Gaza since 2014 and 2015.
The unit, commanded by Major General (res.) Nitzan Alon until November 2025, comprised roughly 2,100 soldiers at its peak, with about 60 percent serving as reservists. Most came from the Intelligence Directorate’s Special Operations Division, with significant representation from the elite Unit 8200 signals intelligence unit and the Research Division.
According to Israel Defense Forces data, 168 hostages were returned alive during the war, while 87 were recovered deceased. Of these, 59 were rescued through special military operations—eight alive and 51 dead—while others were released through negotiated agreements. The military confirmed that 38 hostages were abducted alive but killed in captivity after October 8, 2023.
“Unfortunately, of course, we did not meet the mission, and there were cases in which abductees were harmed,” the senior officer acknowledged. “Each such case was investigated in depth, and the lessons were assimilated into the work of the headquarters.”
The IDF admitted that its own actions, including airstrikes, led to some hostage deaths. The headquarters cited several tragic incidents, including the accidental killing of three hostages who escaped their captors in December 2023, only to be shot by Israeli forces. In August 2024, six hostages were murdered by their captors in a Rafah tunnel.
The unit’s work was extraordinarily complex, requiring constant intelligence gathering, as Hamas frequently moved hostages around Gaza, particularly in Gaza City.
“Finding live abductees is a very dynamic task, because they were moved from place to place and, in fact, the situation is constantly being updated,” the officer explained. “The task was to ‘hold’ them with intelligence at all times.”
Teams were divided into departments handling living and deceased hostages separately. Each family was assigned a dedicated liaison officer who maintained continuous contact throughout the war, providing intelligence updates while navigating security concerns and privacy considerations.
The final operation, code-named “Brave Heart,” recovered the body of Police Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, the last hostage. His case proved particularly complicated because Hamas did not know his location. Through extensive intelligence work, investigators determined he had likely been buried in October 2023 in a cemetery in eastern Gaza City alongside unknown Gazans and militants. The team analyzed thousands of potential graves and scanned approximately 250 bodies with more than 20 dentists before achieving identification.
The headquarters emphasized that its personnel faced intense emotional strain throughout the operation. “We are talking about hundreds of staff, more than half of whom are reservists who live with the hostages day and night,” the officer said. The unit is now focusing on providing mental health support to members exposed to traumatic content during their service.
The Hostages Families Headquarters thanked the military while noting that an independent investigation should examine the handling of the hostage crisis, including discrepancies in official casualty figures.
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