Later Chabad spokesman in Israel Moni Ender said that there were at least eight Israelis inside the house, including Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivka Holtzberg. The rabbi's two-year-old son Moshe was rescued by his nanny, Sandra Samuel, 44, who had worked for the centre for the previous five years.

It was reported that gunmen fired indiscriminately towards the crowd.Late on Thursday evening, State officials in India told the Associated Press that eight hostages had been released from the Chabad House. Later Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said that the eight people seen near Chabad House were not Jewish hostages but local Indians from a home in the same compound.Early Friday morning a large blast was heard at the centre as fighting continued, even though other sources were reporting that the building was under the control of the Indian security forces.

During the siege US Chabad official Rabbi Levi Shemtov talked with one of the terrorists on Holtzberg's cell phone. The FBI and other negotiation experts helped guide him through the process which included around five phone calls. Having to find an Urdu speaker to speak with him, they were unable to directly speak to any of the hostages, but Shemtov did say he heard the voice of one woman screaming in English, "please help immediately."
Shortly before dawn on Friday, Indian security forces began an attack on the Chabad House which lasted until after sundown. TV footage showed troops abseiling from a helicopter into the building, and soldiers on the ground closing in. Initially it was reported that five hostages were killed at the Chabad House, then six on Friday, eight by Saturday morning and the final number of six on Sunday, when two missing Israelis made contact with the Israeli Foreign Ministry.When the raid ended at sundown everyone inside the building was dead, including the rabbi and his wife. An Indian commando was killed during the operation. According to ZAKA members, at least one hostage (Rabbi Holtzberg) might have been killed in the crossfire on Friday when the commandos moved in; this was rejected by Israoperationeli government authorities as stories and irresponsible comments. Some of the victims had been bound. Some of the others were killed by the terrorists on Wednesday, and the remainder on Thursday. The rabbi's wife and Orpaz had been killed many hours before Nariman House was retaken.

A handout provided by Indian police identified the two terrorists killed at Nariman House as a certain "Nasir" alias Abu Umar, and "Babar Imaran".