Erez Calderón had 11 years When Palestinian militiamen entered the Kibutz of Nir Oz in which he lived. Little Israeli was kidnapped with his father and sister, and taken to Gazaand separated from them. He was released 52 days later. Calderón was one of the 36 minor hostages of the 251 that captured Hamas and the Islamic jihad on October 7. Of the hostages, 27 were military and 224 civilians.
Now they are still in the strip about twenty hostages aliveall of them adult men, in addition to about 27 bodies. Amnesty International demands that they be released “immediate” and “unconditional.” The conditions of many of them, after 724 days of captivity“They are terrible,” says the human rights organization in a statement. They run a “serious risk of death and torture and other ill -treatment.”
All “have been held in an incommunication regime and have denied all contact with their families or access to the International Red Cross Committee until the moment of their release,” they recall. “Hostage taking is a serious violation of international law and constitutes a war crime. ”
In a week two years of the worst attack on Israeli soil will be completed since its creation in 1947. At least 1.139 died people. Of them, more than 800 of them were civilians, At least 36 boys and girls. More than 4,000 people were injured.
Captivity abuses
Some of the released hostages report having suffered captivity abuses. A liberated hostage told Amnesty International that he had already hit them for several days after his capture, and that he had been held in a tunnel, without sufficient food or water. At least five more men and a woman have publicly informed that they were subjected to beatings and other physical abuse. Others denounce isolation in total darkness.
Four women, two girls and two men, have publicly said they suffered sexual assault, forced nudity or forced marriage threatsrecapitulates amnesty. A UN Research Commission concluded in September 2024 that he had received credible information about some hostages under captivity sexual violence, including a woman who denounced to have been raped. He also found indications of sexual violence, including violation, the International Criminal Court, which issued an order to search and capture against two leaders of Hamas already deceased.
Hamas and Palestinian armed groups have published photographs and videos of hostages that appear often injuredwith pain or fear or imploring for your life or your release, the statement continues. They have also forced hostages to parade before crowds during their kidnapping or in humiliating “liberation ceremonies.”
At the end of July, the Brigades To Qudsthe military arm of the Islamic jihad, published a video in which the hostage is seen Rom Braslavski on the floor of a tunnel, malnourished and crying out that is on the verge of death. In another of the Brigadas de Ezzeldin al-Qassam From August 2, 2025, Hamas’s military wing shows Evyatar David Escuálido and digging his own grave.
“Until they are released, Hamas must ensure that all hostages receive human treatment, have access to international observation mechanisms and can communicate periodically and worthy with their relatives and loved ones,” he says Agnès Callamard, General Secretary of Amnesty International.
More than 11,000 Palestinians held by Israel
Since October 2023, Israeli authorities have greatly intensified the arrest of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. They maintain at this time about 11,040 Palestiniansmore than half without charges or trial, according to the Israeli Hamoked Human Rights Organization, as of September 1, 2025. Hundreds are children. Israel retains at least 730 Palestinian bodiessome for decades, to use them as a currency in negotiations, according to the Center for Human Rights and Legal Assistance of Jerusalem (JLAC),
Amnesty International asks Israel to release them immediately and that End the practices of torture, hunger and sexual violence. “There can be no justification for taking people as hostages or for the arbitrary detention of people for prolonged periods without charges or judgment,” said Agnès Callamar.
For all this, they demand the high immediate fire and that “Israel put an end to genocide which is carrying out against the Palestinian population in Gaza. ”
The Israeli army, however, is in full total offensive against Ciudad de Gaza, the largest of the entire strip. In addition to forceing to move to hundreds of thousands of people who have nowhere to stay, since the bulk of the strip buildings is destroyed by the bombings, Israel is subjecting Gaza Aun Total locks in which it greatly limits the food, water and medicines that can enter, which has caused a famine officially declared by the United Nations.
