Third Hostage to Be Freed on Thursday Identified, 5 Thais to Also Be Released

Photo Credit: Courtesy: The families

Israeli hostages (from left) Arbel Yehud, Agam Berger and Gadi Moses.

The third Israeli hostage to be released on Thursday is 80-year-old Gadi Moses, it was cleared for publication on Wednesday. He will be freed along with 29-year-old Arbel Yehud, 21-year-old Agam Berger and five Thai nationals.

“An entire nation has fought for them and anxiously awaits their longed-for return to their families’ embrace,” said the Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters. “We have both a sacred duty and moral right to bring all our brothers and sisters home. We will not give up or stop at any stage until all hostages return home – down to the very last one – the living for rehabilitation and the deceased for proper burial.”

Moses, was abducted from his home on Kibbutz Nir Oz while his partner, Efrat Katz, was murdered. An agronomist with expertise in field crops and wastewater management, his last sign of life was a Hamas propaganda video in December 2023.

Arbel, was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz and held captive by Palestinian Islamic Jihad. She was taken captive along with her partner, Ariel Cunio who is still in Gaza.

Israel had delayed the return of Palestinians to northern Gaza after reneging on a commitment to make Arbel one of four women released on Saturday. Hamas released four soldiers.

Berger, 21, was among seven female soldiers abducted from the army’s Nahal Oz outpost during Hamas’s October 7 attack.

There are eight Thai nationals, all agricultural workers being held in Gaza, of whom two have been declared dead. The names of the five to be released have not been confirmed.

The first phase of the ceasefire is supposed to see a total of 33 Israeli hostages freed over six weeks in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian terrorists imprisoned in Israel. The exact number will depend on how many are alive. Arbel is the eighth of the 33 hostages released since the ceasefire began.

The fate of the remaining 65 hostages will be determined by negotiations to begin on the 16th day of the ceasefire. Critics say the phased approach condemns hostages not freed in the beginning to open-ended captivity and undermines Israel’s war gains.

At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 89 remaining hostages, more than 30 have been declared dead.