A look at the hostages left in Gaza, by the numbers

Israel has celebrated the return of the last 20 living hostages who were held in Gaza under the first phase of the fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire.

The militants have subsequently released the remains of 23 hostages under the current truce with Israel, which leaves five bodies of hostages still remaining in Gaza.

Hamas says it has not been able to reach all of the remains because they are buried under rubble left behind by Israel’s two-year offensive in the Gaza Strip, while Israel accuses the militants of dragging their feet and has threatened to resume military operations or withhold humanitarian aid if all of the remains are not returned.

Since the ceasefire began last month and as part of the deal, Israel has returned the remains of 15 Palestinians for each Israeli hostage. So far, Israel has released the remains of 300 Palestinians to Gaza in exchange for the remains of the hostages.

Health officials in Gaza have struggled to identify the bodies without access to DNA kits and have identified 89 of the bodies.

Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostages in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack.

The ensuing war has killed more than 68,800 Palestinians in Gaza, about half of whom were women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts.

Here are details on the hostages:

Total hostages taken during the Oct. 7 attack: 251

Hostages taken before the Oct. 7 attack: 4 (2 who entered Gaza in 2014 and 2015 and the bodies of 2 soldiers killed in the 2014 war)

Living hostages released in exchanges or other deals: 160

Hostages rescued alive: 8

Bodies of hostages released in deals: 30

Bodies of hostages retrieved by Israeli forces: 51

Bodies of hostages still in captivity: 5 (including 1 Thai national)

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Bodies of unidentified Palestinians returned from Israel as part of the ceasefire deal are buried in a mass grave in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Israeli soldiers carry the flag-draped coffin of slain hostage Col. Asaf Hamami, who was abducted by Hamas militants on Oct. 7, 2023, during his funeral at Kiryat Shaul military cemetery, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

FILE - Hamas militants carry a white bag believed to contain a body, after retrieving it from a tunnel during a search for the remains of hostages in Hamad City, Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi, File)

A Red Cross vehicle part of a convoy carrying the bodies of two people believed to be deceased hostages handed over by Hamas make their way toward the Kissufim border crossing with Israel, to be transferred to Israeli authorities, in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Relatives and supporters of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip attend a rally calling for their immediate release in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

A woman with an Israeli flag draped over her body, sleeps on a bench in "Hostage Square" in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Ziv Berman, an Israeli hostage released from the Gaza Strip gestures from the window of a helicopter landing at the Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel, Monday, Oct. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Freed Israeli hostage Avinatan Or gestures from a van as he arrives at Beilinson hospital in Petah Tikva, Israel, after he was released from Hamas captivity in the Gaza Stripl, Monday, Oct. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

A person pastes a heart-shaped sticker on a banner with pictures of Israeli hostages during a a gathering at a plaza known as hostages square in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, Oct. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

KOTZEBUE, Alaska (AP) — The low autumn light turned the tundra gold as James Schaeffer, 7, and his cousin Charles Gallahorn, 10, raced down a dirt path by the cemetery on the edge of town. Permafrost thaw had buckled the ground, tilting wooden cross grave markers sideways. The boys took turns smashing slabs of ice that had formed in puddles across the warped road.

Their great-grandfather, Roswell Schaeffer, 78, trailed behind. What was a playground to the kids was, for Schaeffer – an Inupiaq elder and prolific hunter – a reminder of what warming temperatures had undone: the stable ice he once hunted seals on, the permafrost cellars that kept food frozen all summer, the salmon runs and caribou migrations that once defined the seasons.

Now another pressure loomed. A 211-mile mining road that would cut through caribou and salmon habitat was approved by the Trump administration this fall, though the project still faces lawsuits and opposition from environmental and native groups. Schaeffer and other critics worry it could open the region to outside hunters and further devastate already declining herds. “If we lose our caribou – both from climate change and overhunting – we’ll never be the same,” he said. “We’re going to lose our culture totally.”

Still, Schaeffer insists on taking the next generation out on the land, even when the animals don’t come. It was late September and he and James would normally have been at their camp hunting caribou. But the herd has been migrating later each year and still hadn’t arrived – a pattern scientists link to climate change, mostly caused by the burning of oil, gas and coal. So instead of caribou, they scanned the tundra for swans, ptarmigan and ducks.

Caribou antlers are stacked outside Schaeffer's home. Traditional seal hooks and whale harpoons hang in his hunting shed. Inside, a photograph of him with a hunted beluga is mounted on the wall beside the head of a dall sheep and a traditional mask his daughter Aakatchaq made from caribou hide and lynx fur.

He got his first caribou at 14 and began taking his own children out at 7. James made his first caribou kill this past spring with a .22 rifle. He teaches James what his father taught him: that power comes from giving food and a hunter’s responsibility is to feed the elders.

“When you’re raised an Inupiaq, your whole being is to make sure the elders have food,” he said.

But even as he passes down those lessons, Schaeffer worries there won’t be enough to sustain the next generation – or to sustain him. “The reason I’ve been a successful hunter is the firm belief that, when I become old, people will feed me,” he said. “My great-grandson and my grandson are my future for food.”

These days, they’re eating less hunted food and relying more on farmed chicken and processed goods from the store. The caribou are fewer, the salmon scarcer, the storms more severe. Record rainfall battered Northwest Alaska this year, flooding Schaeffer’s backyard twice this fall alone. He worries about the toll on wildlife and whether his grandchildren will be able to live in Kotzebue as the changes accelerate.

“It’s kind of scary to think about what’s going to happen,” he said.

That afternoon, James ducked into the bed of Schaeffer’s truck and aimed into the water. He shot two ducks. Schaeffer helped him into waders – waterproof overalls – so they could collect them and bring them home for dinner, but the tide was too high. They had to turn back without collecting the ducks.

The changes weigh on others, too. Schaeffer’s friend, writer and commercial fisherman Seth Kantner grew up along the Kobuk River, where caribou once reliably crossed by the hundreds of thousands.

“I can hardly stand how lonely it feels without all the caribou that used to be here,” he said. “This road is the largest threat. But right beside it is climate change.”

Follow Annika Hammerschlag on Instagram @ahammergram.

The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment

Roswell Schaeffer, an Inupiaq hunter and fisher, takes his great-grandson James Schaeffer, 7, and James' cousin Charles Gallahorn, 10, hunting in Kotzebue, Alaska, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)

James Schaeffer, 7, plays with a slab of ice taken from a pond that formed on a warped road caused by thawing permafrost in Kotzebue, Alaska, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)

Charles Gallahorn, 10, plays with a slab of ice taken from a pond that formed on a warped road caused by thawing permafrost in Kotzebue, Alaska, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)

Charles Gallahorn, 10, plays with a slab of ice taken from a pond that formed on a warped road caused by thawing permafrost in Kotzebue, Alaska, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)

James Schaeffer, 7, looks out at a view of Kotzebue, Alaska, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)

James Schaeffer, 7, plays on a road where thawing permafrost has caused the ground to warp in Kotzebue, Alaska, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)

James Schaeffer, 7, plays on a road where thawing permafrost has caused the ground to warp in Kotzebue, Alaska, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)

James Schaeffer, 7, hunts in Kotzebue, Alaska, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)

Roswell Schaeffer, an Inupiaq hunter and fisher, helps his great-grandson James Schaeffer, 7, into waders while hunting Friday, Sept. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)

Roswell Schaeffer, an Inupiaq hunter and fisher, looks over caribou antlers from past hunts at his home in Kotzebue, Alaska, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)

James Schaeffer, 7, hunts in Kotzebue, Alaska, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)

James Schaeffer, 7, runs through a cemetery where thawing permafrost has caused grave markers to tilt and the ground to warp in Kotzebue, Alaska, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)

Roswell Schaeffer, an Inupiaq hunter and fisher, visits the cemetery where thawing permafrost has caused grave markers to tilt in Kotzebue, Alaska, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)

Roswell Schaeffer, an Inupiaq hunter and fisher, helps his great-grandson James Schaeffer, 7, scope ducks while hunting in Kotzebue, Alaska, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)