Palestinians Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants keep guard as they prepare to release hostages who had been held in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, as part of a cease-fire and a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel, in Gaza City, on Jan. 25, 2025. (Credit: Reuters)
BEIRUT — Hamas gave Israel, on Wednesday evening, the list of hostages slated to be released from Gaza the next day, and, according to a report from Haaretz citing an anonymous political source, the list has been approved. Two women — civilian Arbel Yehoud and Israeli army spotter Agam Berger — and 80-year-old Gadi Moshe Moses will be exchanged for 110 Palestinian detainees, as set out by the cease-fire agreement in place since Jan. 19.
The Israeli government also believes that five Thai citizens will be released on Thursday, in addition to the three Israeli hostages. Thursday's hostage exchange comes in addition to the scheduled Saturday and Sunday exchanges outlined in the truce, and these regular exchanges will continue as planned this weekend.
Arbel Yehud was at the center of a dispute between Israel and Hamas over the specifics of the exchange. Yehud was seen as a civilian by Israel and as a soldier by Hamas, upsetting the agreed-upon prioritization of civilians over soldiers for release and also affecting the number of Palestinian captives she would be exchanged for.
She is believed to be one of the last remaining living civilian captives in Gaza and, according to Israeli authorities, was meant to be among the first two groups of hostages released on Jan. 19 and Jan. 25, in accordance with Israel's demand that female civilians be released first. On Jan. 25, four female Israeli army soldiers were released.
The delay, which was also attributed to Yehud being held by Palestinian Islamic Jihad and not Hamas, resulted in the prime minister's office announcing on Saturday that it would prevent Palestinians from passing through the Netzarim Corridor, an occupied zone that bisects the besieged Strip, into northern Gaza until Yehud was released. An estimate 650,000 people were waiting to return to their homes in the North.
On Sunday, Islamic Jihad's military wing, al-Quds Brigades, said in a statement on Telegram that it had “taken the necessary measures to remove the excuses fabricated by the enemy to block the return of our people to northern Gaza,” and confirmed that it had reached an agreement through the mediators on the timing of Yehud's released. The movement's secretary-general said Yehud would be exchanged for 30 Palestinian detainees.
On Monday, it published a video filmed on Jan. 25 of Yehud, who tells her family, “I’m OK. I miss you endlessly and I hope to return to you soon, like the girls who had been released.”
That same day, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were seen walking along a seaside road, past now-unmanned military checkpoints in the Netzarim Corridor, returning to their homes, or what was left of them, in northern Gaza.