Amnesty International on Tuesday called for an immediate ceasefire and release of all civilians held hostage by Gaza factions since the October 7 Massacre, but excluded slain IDF officer Hadar Goldin and other captive IDF soldiers.
"Palestinian armed groups must immediately and unconditionally release all civilians held hostage in the occupied Gaza Strip, reiterated Amnesty International nearly two years after they were seized during the Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel on 7 October 2023," Amnesty said in their statement. "Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad have made clear they have been holding both civilians and soldiers as bargaining chips to compel Israeli authorities to stop their military attacks, release all arbitrarily detained Palestinian prisoners and end the blockade on Gaza and their unlawful occupation of the Palestinian territory. This conduct corresponds to the definition of hostage-taking under international law."
'Unconditionally' release civilian hostages
Amnesty explained to The Jerusalem Post that it had previously called for the immediate release of "all civilian hostages" as "International law requires those holding civilian hostages to release them immediately and unconditionally," but while soldiers should not be used as bargaining chips, they should be released in relation to a ceasefire.
"Hamas has made it clear that Israeli soldiers are being held in order to compel action from the Israeli authorities rather than as military captives. As such, Palestinian armed groups’ holding of soldiers also constitutes hostage-taking which is prohibited under international law," said a spokesperson. "With respect to soldiers, Amnesty International is calling for Palestinian armed groups to immediately stop holding them as hostages for bargaining and to ensure they are released promptly once any ceasefire is agreed and implemented, if not before. Amnesty International also calls on Hamas and other armed groups to ensure all captives are treated humanely at all times, granted access to ICRC [International Committee of the Red Cross] and are allowed communication with their families."
Previous Amnesty calls for the release of hostages, such as a November 2023 statement, demanded the release of civilians but only called for the humane and lawful treatment of captive soldiers.
International and Israeli calls for the release of hostages held by Hamas have not typically not differentiated between civilians and military service people held hostage. The Israeli government and hostage family lobbying groups have also not distinguished between those captured by Gazan terrorist organizations prior to the October 7 Massacre and those seized after. NGOs and governments count 48 people held hostage, which includes the body of Goldin, a soldier that fell in combat in 2014's Operation Protective Edge. The Tuesday Amnesty statement referred to 47 unlawfully held people and bodies.
"Out of the 47 people who continue to be unlawfully held it is believed that approximately 20, all men, are still alive. They are at grave risk of death, torture and other ill-treatment. They are the last remaining of the 251 people – mostly civilians – who were seized, in most cases alive, and taken to Gaza during the brutal Hamas-led attacks of 7 October 2023," wrote Amnesty.
An Amnesty spokesperson explained that the figure "47" referred only to those hostages and bodies seized in 2023, but excluded Goldin because his body had been held since 2014.
The Tuesday Amnesty statement also called for Israel to release 11,040 Palestinians from detention, half of whom were allegedly being held without charge or trial under administrative detention or as unlawful combatants.
“There can be no justification for seizing people as hostages nor for the prolonged arbitrary detention of individuals without charge or trial. The world must not turn its back on humanity,” Amnesty Secretary General Agnès Callamard said in a statement.
The statement came a day after the phased peace plan proposed on Monday by US President Donald Trump, which called for the release of all hostages by 72 hours from Israel's public acceptance of the plan, but the Amnesty spokesperson assured that the timing of the Tuesday press release was incidental and not related.
"The timing of this press release is not connected to the Trump peace proposal, we are reiterating this call to mark the fact that nearly two years after the October 2023 attacks in southern Israel more than 47 hostages – 20 of them believed to be still alive – continue to be unlawfully held in Gaza by Palestinian armed groups," said the spokesperson.
Amnesty said on Tuesday that the hostages had undergone physical, sexual, and psychological abuse while in captivity. It also acknowledged that Gazan terrorist groups had threatened to kill hostages to prevent their rescue. The NGO noted that Hamas had "suggested" that it had executed six hostages, but did not take a stance on who was responsible for the death of Bibas family members. Amnesty also warned that the IDF was endangering hostages with its military operation against Hamas, which the human rights group claimed was a genocide against Palestinians.
“Every moment of inaction costs more lives and deepens the horrors civilians are facing. An immediate ceasefire is not just a moral imperative; it is a global responsibility. Israel must immediately stop its genocide against Palestinians in Gaza including its deliberate starvation and mass displacement policy. Palestinian armed groups must immediately release all civilian hostages,” said Callamard. “Pending their release, Hamas must ensure that all hostages are treated humanely, granted access to international monitors and allowed regular, dignified communication with their family and loved ones. Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups must also immediately and unconditionally return the bodies of all individuals seized on 7 October 2023. Anything less continues to constitute grave crimes under international law and is a further source of anguish for families desperate for the safe return, or at least news, of their loved ones.”