Soldiers, brothers, music lovers: The Israeli hostages expected home from Gaza

Of 48 still in captivity, 20 are believed to be alive while the status of two isn’t known. Among the survivors are two sets of siblings. Some of the dead are soldiers. All are men, except for one woman Israel says is deceased.

In the coming hours or days the living and the dead are expected to start coming home after more than two years in captivity, a painful and long-hoped-for moment for Israelis and the clearest sign yet that the brutal Gaza war may finally be over.

Israel and Hamas reached a deal this week to return the hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners, part of a broader agreement brokered by President Trump to end the war.

About 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 that sparked the war. The ensuing conflict has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians. People on both sides are eager to see an end to the fighting so wounds can start to heal.

Here’s what is known about remaining hostages:

Childhood friends Guy Gilboa-Dalal and Evyatar David, both 24, are among 11 still in Gaza who were captured at the Tribe of Nova festival, a desert rave where about 3,000 people had gathered to dance to psychedelic trance music early on Oct. 7.

Gilboa-Dalal is a talented guitarist who can simply hear a tune, then play it, according to a short film made with the support of his family. They described him as a shy child fascinated by Japan, they said. He was a fan of Naruto, a Japanese comic series, and was planning a trip to Japan after teaching himself its language. He took two kimonos with him to Nova, according to his brother.

More than 360 attendees were murdered and at least 40 were taken hostage at the festival, according to Israel.

Around sunrise, attendees saw rockets streaming through the sky above them. The music stopped and they were told to leave, but the few roads out were already blocked by approaching militants. Terrified attendees fled through fields, hid behind trees and in dumpsters, videos of the scene showed. Attackers threw grenades into roadside shelters where people had sought safety.

Some who were killed or captured were working at the festival as security guards and ushers, including Eitan Mor, 25, Bar Kupershtein, 23, and Rom Braslavski, 21, who are among those who are still being held.

Another captive, Alon Ohel, 24, is a musician. His family installed a piano, his instrument of choice, at a courtyard in Tel Aviv known as Hostage Square. Passersby are encouraged to play it in his honor. Hostages freed earlier said they were with him in Hamas’s underground tunnels, where he was kept in shackles and still had a piece of shrapnel lodged in his eye.

The other hostages taken at the festival and still to be returned are Avinatan Or, 32, Elkana Bohbot, 36, Maxim Herkin, 37, Segev Kalfon, 27 and Yosef-Chaim Ohana, 25.

Brothers Ariel and David Cunio, 28 and 35, were taken hostage in Nir Oz, a kibbutz near the Gaza border where more than a quarter of the population was either killed or kidnapped. The small agricultural community was home to about 400 people before the Oct. 7 attacks.

The Cunio brothers are among four living hostages from the kibbutz still in captivity. The remains of five others will also be returned.

Ariel was abducted with his fiancée, Arbel Yehud, who was released during a cease-fire in January. David was taken with his wife, Sharon, and their two young daughters, who were released in November 2023.

Community members say 76 people were taken hostage at Nir Oz, a kibbutz where the largest number of captives from a single place were taken.

Among them were the Bibas family, a couple and their two young redheaded children. Yarden Bibas was freed in February. His wife, Shiri, and their two young children died in captivity and were returned to Israel in February.

Eitan Horn, 39, was visiting his brother at Nir Oz when they were taken hostage. Their family immigrated to Israel from Argentina. Eitan, the youngest, came when he was 16 years old, his sister-in-law Dalia Cusnir said. “He couldn’t wait to finish high school and join the army," she said.

Iair Horn, who was freed in February during a cease-fire, told relatives that despite his release he would never feel free until his brother and every other hostage returns, according to Cusnir.

Matan Zangauker, 25, is a soldier whose mother has campaigned relentlessly for his release, protesting while tied up in chains. Zangauker’s partner, Ilana Gritzewsky, was also taken hostage but was released in 2023.

Twin brothers Gali and Ziv Berman, each 28 years old, were taken from another kibbutz named Kfar Aza, along with several neighbors. The attack on Kfar Aza was notable for its extreme brutality; United Nations investigators said they saw evidence of sexual violence and decapitation.

Gali and Ziv are best friends, their older brother Liran said in a video shared by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. They have traveled widely and work together at a sound-production company.

They were separated on their first day of captivity, Liran said in a separate video interview with a rabbi in July this year.

Matan Angrest, 22, and Omri Miran, 48, were taken from Nahal Oz, another kibbutz.

Angrest’s mother released graphic video footage of his abduction, showing him being beaten. “My son is in a cage, starving, without daylight," Anat Angrest said.

Miran is a gardener and a practitioner of shiatsu, a Japanese therapy similar to acupuncture, according to a biographical video released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

Corporal Nimrod Cohen, 21, was on duty trying to secure the area near kibbutz Nirim when his tank malfunctioned, his father told the U.N.’s news service. Militants overtook the vehicle and slaughtered its crew, the report said. Cohen was the only one taken alive.

Israeli authorities believe Tamir Nimrodi and Bipin Joshi might have died in captivity but haven’t made a final determination. Nimrodi, 20, is a soldier who was abducted at a border checkpoint between Israel and northern Gaza.

Joshi, 24, was part of a group of Nepali college students who had just arrived in Israel for an agricultural program on tending orange and lemon groves in Alumim, a kibbutz, when the Oct. 7 attack occurred. He helped save many of his fellow farmers before he was captured.

Write to Feliz Solomon at feliz.solomon@wsj.com and Natasha Dangoor at natasha.dangoor@wsj.com