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Maj. Gen. (res.) Nitzan Alon, who has served as the IDF’s point man on hostage negotiations since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, onslaught, is ending his reserve duty and role in the military after over two years, it was announced Sunday.
The military said that IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir agreed to end Alon’s tenure at his request. He will officially end his reserve duty in the coming days, according to the IDF. Alon also led the IDF’s intelligence-gathering effort on captives and missing persons.
The development comes as Hamas no longer holds any living hostages, having released the last 20 surviving captives on October 13. The terror group is now in the fraught process of returning the bodies of deceased captives still held in the Strip.
Alon began his reserve duty on the morning of the October 7, 2023, attack — during which 251 people were abducted — and was appointed by former IDF chief of staff Herzi Halevi to head the Hostages and Missing Persons Headquarters.
“Under his command, the headquarters acted to return the hostages, focusing on intelligence collection and research, assisting in negotiations, leading and executing special operations, and maintaining ongoing contact with the families of the hostages,” the IDF said in a statement.
Zamir thanked Alon for “taking on the important national mission of bringing the hostages home, for his unique contribution to the IDF during the war, for his dedication, and for his decisive contribution to the effort to safeguard the lives of the hostages, to secure their release, and to bring the fallen back for burial,” the military said.
The Hostages Headquarters will continue to operate despite Alon’s departure, the IDF said, adding that it will be headed by a colonel who has been serving as chief of the headquarters’ operational department since its inception.
The IDF said Zamir “regards the return of the hostages as a supreme mission and a moral duty, emphasizing that as long as there remain fallen hostages in the Gaza Strip, the mission is not over.”
Lishay Miran-Lavi, wife of hostage Omri Miran was recently returned alive after over two years in captivity, wrote on X: “Much will yet be told of this man and what he did for the State of Israel in general, and for the families of the hostages in particular.”
She called him “a beacon of humanity, determination, and love of the land. Quietly, modestly.”
She said Alon “didn’t run away, didn’t give up — even when it seemed that others wanted to… So, in my name, in Roni and Alma’s name, and in Omri’s name — Nitzan, thank you.”
Liran Berman, brother of recently returned hostages Gali and Ziv Berman, wrote: “I don’t wish upon anyone to have two brothers held captive by Hamas. But I do wish that if someone were, God forbid, caught in such a horrific situation, they would have someone like Nitzan Alon. Someone who doesn’t wait for you to mention their name in some interview — but calls you to update you on the situation of your brothers, and knows every detail.
“Someone who looks you in the eyes — month after month, for two years. Someone who, when everyone else tells you they’re not optimistic and puts on a sour face, tells you he won’t give up until your brothers come home.”
Added Berman: “When I was taught back in the army what a commander in the IDF should look like, I imagined someone like Nitzan Alon. So, Nitzan — the entire Berman family thanks you tonight.”
In his own farewell missive to soldiers, Alon said: “Amid the disaster and upheaval that struck the State of Israel on October 7, the chaos following the mass abductions stood out, the nature and scope of which were unclear. It was necessary to create almost overnight an organization and command structure, define the mission clearly, and develop the capabilities to carry it out.
“The ability to build a reliable picture from a puzzle of thousands of details — some missing or hidden — was made possible thanks to your talent and professional skills: intelligence officers, operational personnel, and technology experts, together with the supporting framework that tirelessly assisted you. You all devoted yourselves to this sacred mission with endless dedication, working days and nights, on weekdays, Shabbats, and holidays.
“As an inseparable part of your work, you were exposed to cruelty and malice, you witnessed the scenes, and you heard the voices. These experiences tear at the soul and scar the spirit. I sincerely hope that the sense of meaning and mission, together with your inner resilience, will balance and overcome the pain and sorrow imprinted on each of us.”
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