Hamas is set to free 8 more hostages and Israel will release 110 prisoners as Gaza ceasefire holds
Hamas is set to free 8 more hostages and Israel will release 110 prisoners as Gaza ceasefire holds
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Hamas is set to free three more Israeli hostages as well as five Thai captives on Thursday, and Israel is to release another 110 Palestinian prisoners, in the third such exchange since a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip took hold earlier this month. The truce is aimed at winding down the deadliest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and Hamas, whose Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel sparked the fighting. It has held despite a dispute earlier this week over the sequence in which the hostages were released.
The Israelis set to be released are Arbel Yehoud, 29, Agam Berger, 20 — who was abducted along with four other female soldiers who were freed Saturday — and Gadi Moses, an 80-year-old man. The identities of the Thai nationals who will be released were not immediately known.
A number of foreign workers were taken captive along with dozens of Israeli civilians and soldiers during Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack that set off the war. Twenty-three Thais were among more than 100 hostages released during a weeklong ceasefire in November 2023. Israel says eight remain.
Of the people set to be released from prisons in Israel, 30 are serving life sentences after being convicted of deadly attacks against Israelis. Zakaria Zubeidi, a prominent former militant leader and theater director who took part in a dramatic jailbreak in 2021 before being rearrested days later, is also among those set to be released.
