HAMAS carried away 251 Israeli prisoners into the Gaza Strip on Oct 7, 2023. Some were already dead.

Here is what is known about the prisoners still held in Gaza.

48 men, 10 women, two children Of the 251 Israelis seized on Oct 7, 2023, 117 have been freed, most of them women, children and foreign workers.

Most were released during a week-long truce in Nov 2023 in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

Israel believes 60 prisoners are alive, while 34 have been declared dead by the army.

The military has repatriated the bodies of 40 prisoners who either died in Gaza or were killed on Oct 7, 2023.

The last of these were Youssef and his son Hamza Al Zayadna, Israeli Arab Bedouins taken from the Holit kibbutz where they were harvesting olives.Israel`s army said on Dec 2 that one of its soldiers, Captain Omer Maxim Neutra, 21, was killed on Oct 7 and that his body has been held in Gaza since then.

Of the 60 thought to be alive, 53 are Israelis, though some of them have more than one nationality.

Another six are Thais and one is Nepalese.

Forty-eight are men and 10 are women. Ten of them are military personnel.

There are two children. The youngest, Kfir Bibas, was just eightand-a-half-months old when he was kidnapped. His brother Ariel was four years old when he was taken to Gaza.

Hamas has said the two children are dead, but Israel has not confirmed this.

No proof of life Since the last truce ended on Dec 1, 2023, seven other Israelis have been freed alive.Hamas`s armed wing said on Nov 23 that an Israeli woman taken prisoner in Oct 2023 had been killed in northern Gaza.

Bodies taken to Gaza On Oct 7, 2023, Hamas took several dead captives back into Gaza with them, including Omer Neutra, one of 11 Israeli soldiers.

At least 30 other prisoners have died in the territory since then.

Three were killed in error by the Israeli army on Dec 15, 2023. They were Yotam Haim, 28, Samer El Talalga, 25, and Alon Shamriz, 26.

Festival, kibbutz survivors Most of the prisoners believed alive were taken during the attacks on the Nir Oz kibbutz and the Supernova music festival.

At Nir Oz, of the 76 prisoners taken on Oct 7, 40 were released alive. Another 20 are still in Gaza and believed to be alive. The remaining 16 are dead.-AFP