Three Israeli hostages will be freed from Hamas captivity on Thursday, including IDF soldier Agam Berger — as well as five Thai nationals, officials said.
Berger, 19, Gadi Moses, 80 and Arbel Yehud, 29, will be freed during Thursday’s exchange, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.
Berger is the last female IDF soldier to be released after her four colleagues were freed last week.
Hamas’ failure to release all civilian female hostages before freeing the soldiers had threatened to sink the breakthrough cease-fire deal.
Officials were expecting Yehud, a civilian, to be released last week.
Yehud’s extended captivity led the Israeli military to stop Palestinians from returning to war-torn northern Gaza until Hamas agreed to release more hostages than originally planned this week.
Mother Shiri and her young sons Kfir and Ariel have also not been released and Hamas has not publicly disclosed their fate.
Along with the three captives slated to be freed on Thursday, Hamas will free another three Israeli hostages on Saturday. Officials have yet to reveal who will be freed on the weekend.
The names of the five Thai nationals to be released on Thursday have not been publicly disclosed.
Should tomorrow’s exchange go through, only three Thai nationals would remain in captivity. At least two of the eight captives are believed to be dead, according to Israel.
Celebrating the release of the hostages is Moses’ family, who have been worried about his well-being after the elderly man and his family were kidnapped from the Kibbutz Nir Oz during the Oct. 7 terrorist attack.
Moses, who celebrated his 80th birthday in captivity last March, was taken just outside his house, with Hamas breaking into his home and murdering his partner, Efrat Katz.
Moses’ ex-wife, Margalit Moses, and their daughter and two grandchildren were also kidnapped and later freed during the first hostage exchange in November 2023.
“We are waiting for him, with severe longing. We hope that his mental and physical strength is in good condition,” Moses’ niece, Efrat Machikava told the local KAN broadcaster.
The Hostages Families Forum, a group made up of the family of the hostages and their supporters, also hailed the upcoming exchange after the three captives suffered nearly 16-months in captivity.
“An entire nation has fought for them and anxiously awaits their longed-for return to their families’ embrace,” the group said in a statement.
“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,” they added.