The Hostages and Missing Persons Command

The Hostages and Missing Persons Command is currently leading the operation to return the hostages. From the command’s operations room, coordination is being maintained with troops on the ground and with the mediators, in order to ensure implementation of the agreement.

Since its establishment and throughout the past two years, dozens of teams and hundreds of reservists have operated within the command to build as accurate an intelligence picture as possible regarding the condition of the hostages, to support their families, and to conveying verified information with them, with credibility and sensitivity. In addition, the command operates to protect the lives of the hostages, while directing operational activity during the combat in the Gaza Strip.

The IDF will continue in its  efforts until the last hostage returns home and the national mission is completed.

Remarks from the the Head of the Hostages and Missing Persons Command, MG. (Res.) Nitzan Alon: “On the night between the seventh and eighth of October 2023; this command post began operating amid the chaos of thousands of people who were cut off from of contact. Through thorough, systematic work, you worked days and nights to assess the situation of each hostage, to understand and define the mission of protecting their lives. It pains us deeply for every life we could not save; many people here are scarred and wounded in their souls carrying with them a sense of responsibility and sometimes guilt. But I think it is important to view this all in a balanced way; within the incidents of battle and within the intensity of the war there is reason to be proud of this good work. So during this day, there is and will be a combination of much joy and sorrow and tears of joy for the returning hostages, and concern and sorrow because after all, this entire event is a difficult and tragic one. As I’ve said, regarding the mission of returning the fallen hostages, we hope that as many as possible will be returned today, and we know there will be many who remain and whom we will need to work to bring back in the coming days. You see, the return of the hostages is only the first cornerstone for important processes that are far beyond this room and beyond this level. It is part of a process of healing, rehabilitation, and revival of Israeli society. I hope that what we have done over these past two years, and what many good people have done in the past two years — first and foremost the troops in the field and their commanders, and the price that was paid, will truly allow this progress to take place”.

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