Divers create an installation calling for the release of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip since the Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel, on May 1, 2025, on Caesarea beach. (Credit: AFP/JACK GUEZ)
U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that three of the hostages still held in Gaza, abducted during the Hamas attack of Oct. 7, 2023, were dead, and that 21 were alive. According to the Israeli army's last tally, 58 of the 251 people abducted that day, are still held in Gaza, and 34 have been declared dead. Hamas is also holding the body of an Israeli soldier killed during a previous war in Gaza in 2014.
"Of these 59 people, now 21 are alive, three are dead," Donald Trump said on the sidelines of an event at the White House. "We want to try to save as many hostages as possible," he continued. "It's a terrible situation."
Donald Trump is expected in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE from May 13 to 16. The U.S. president promised Tuesday a "very, very big announcement" before his visit, though he did not indicate the visit's nature.
Israel announced Monday a new military campaign that plans for the "conquest" of the Gaza Strip and a massive displacement of its population within Palestinian territory. The Israeli military has called up tens of thousands of reservists, but a senior security official stated there remains a "window" for negotiations for the release of hostages until the end of Donald Trump's visit.
The Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, resulted in the death of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data. Israeli military reprisals have killed at least 52,615 in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to data from the Hamas government’s Health Ministry, judged reliable by the U.N.
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