An Israeli army tank takes up position near Israel's southern border with the Gaza Strip, Jan. 14, 2025, amid the war between Israel and Hamas. (Credit: Jack Guez/AFP)
A week after the cease-fire came into effect in Gaza, a point of tension between the Israeli government and Hamas delayed the release of a hostage held since Oct. 7, 2023, in the war-torn Palestinian enclave, as well as the return of displaced Palestinians from the south to the north of Gaza.
The hostage in question, Arbel Yehud, was initially scheduled to be released alongside the four female soldiers freed by Hamas last Saturday, during the hostage exchanges of Jan. 19 and 25 as planned. However, the fact that the Islamic Jihad, another armed Palestinian faction allied with Hamas in Gaza, is holding her has ultimately postponed her release, according to all Israeli media outlets that reported on the matter over the weekend.
Benjamin Netanyahu finally announced overnight from Sunday to Monday that Yehud is expected to be released on Thursday along with two other hostages — Agam Berger and another whose name has not been disclosed — following intense negotiations between Hamas and Israel, resolving the disagreements between the parties in the cease-fire.
Israel indeed demanded her release as soon as possible and accused the Palestinian Islamist movement on Saturday of violating the truce agreement, temporarily suspending the authorization for displaced Palestinians to return to the northern part of the Palestinian enclave. Hamas made similar accusations towards Israel. Then, before Netanyahu's announcement, reports of ongoing discussions were mentioned in the Israeli press, followed by a premature announcement by the Islamic Jihad stating that the hostage would be released before next Saturday, and a statement by a source familiar with the case to the daily Haaretz ensuring that nothing had been finalized yet.
Still, before Netanyahu's announcement, two Palestinian sources told AFP on Sunday that the hostage could eventually return home during the week if Israel agreed to release 30 Palestinian prisoners before the next exchange scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 1. A senior Islamic Jihad official mentioned the same date for the exchange, without providing further details. A fourth source close to the case finally told AFP, also under anonymity, that "the crisis has been resolved" and that Yehud would be free "probably Friday."
'Last female hostage presumed alive'
Aged 29, Yehud was kidnapped with her partner Ariel Cunio during the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023. The couple was captured at their home in the Nir Oz kibbutz, a locality in southern Israel less than two kilometers from the Gaza Strip border. Since then, the couple has remained captive in Gaza.
According to an article published Sunday in The New York Times, Yehud is reportedly “the last civilian woman still held hostage in Gaza, whom Israel believes is likely alive.” Another woman, Shiri Bibas, is also believed to be captive in the Palestinian enclave after being kidnapped in Nir Oz with her two young children. No official confirmation of their death has yet been communicated to the Israeli army, according to the latter. Before her abduction, Yehud worked in education.
The truce agreement in the Gaza Strip that came into effect on Jan. 19 provides for the release of 33 hostages over six weeks, particularly women and men over 50 or in poor physical condition, in exchange for the release of 1,900 Palestinian detainees from Israeli prisons.
This article was translated from L'Orient-Le Jour.
