The three Israeli hostages slated for release by Hamas on Thursday were named Wednesday as IDF soldier Agam Berger, 20, and civilians Arbel Yehoud, 29, and Gadi Moshe Mozes, 80, in addition to five Thai captives.

The names of the three Israelis were given to Israel by Hamas via mediators Egypt and Qatar, and their families were notified of their loved ones’ imminent release, Israeli officials said.

In addition, five Thai hostages will be freed by Hamas tomorrow, Israeli officials confirmed, without naming them. There are eight Thai hostages still in Gaza, along with one Nepalese and a Tanzanian. However, two of the Thai citizens have been declared dead by Israel, as has the Tanzanian.

The extra batch of hostages to be released this week — in addition to three others set to go free on Saturday — was added to the schedule after a dispute over the implementation of the truce deal with Hamas in Gaza that was resolved early Monday.

Seven former hostages — three civilians and four IDF soldiers — have been released so far under the ceasefire and hostage release deal that began on January 19.

The hostages were among 251 Israelis and foreigners kidnapped on October 7, 2023, when some 3,000 Hamas-led terrorists burst into Israel, killing some 1,200 people, amid rampant acts of brutality and overt targeting of civilians.

In exchange for these hostages, Israel will free 110 Palestinian security prisoners — 30 for each civilian, and 50 for Berger including 30 terrorists serving life sentences. The 30 inmates released in exchange for Mozes include three who are also serving life sentences.

Yehoud was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz on the morning of October 7, along with her partner Ariel Cunio, who is also still in Gaza.

Yehoud grew up in Nir Oz, where her family has been living for three generations. Before her abduction, she worked at the Center for Technology, Science and Space at the Eshkol Regional Council.

She is known in her community as a devoted aunt, often seen spending time with her nephews around the kibbutz.

She was initially supposed to be released in last weekend’s exchange, as she is a civilian, but Hamas instead released four IDF surveillance soldiers: Naama Levy, Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, and Liri Albag.

The fate of Yehoud was briefly a major sticking point in the deal’s implementation, with Israel blocking the return of Palestinians to northern Gaza on Sunday. Under the ceasefire and hostage release deal, the terror group was required to prioritize the release of civilian women.

Yehoud is being held by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group, which had reportedly been falsely describing her as a soldier and demanding more prisoners be released in return for her. The Kan public broadcaster reported Sunday evening that PIJ agreed to classify her as a civilian, helping resolve the crisis.

Earlier this week, PIJ released a propaganda video showing a sign of life from Yehoud, who stated that she is “okay” and said she hopes to return home soon “like the other girls.” In the video, Yehoud says the date is January 25, meaning it was apparently filmed on Saturday.

The family asked that the media not broadcast the clip or images from it.

Agam Berger, 20, from Holon, was kidnapped from the Nahal Oz IDF base on October 7, where she served as a surveillance soldier.

Berger is known as a talented violinist who has been playing since fourth grade.

Berger had arrived at the Nahal Oz base just two days before the October 7 onslaught. She is one of seven female soldiers who were abducted from the base.

She only had time that morning to call her father, Shlomi, and tell him she was under fire.

Berger was identified later that day in a Hamas Telegram video, in which she was seen being led to a car, still dressed in her pajamas.

One of the abducted surveillance soldiers, Ori Megidish, was later rescued alive, and the body of a second one, Noa Marciano, was recovered after she was murdered in captivity.

The other four surveillance soldiers, Naama Levy, Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa and Liri Albag were released by Hamas on Saturday. The four reportedly told friends and relatives that it was very hard to leave Berger behind in captivity.

Gadi Moshe Mozes, 80, was kidnapped on October 7, from Kibbutz Nir Oz, where he was a resident. His partner, Efrat Katz, was killed during the attack, apparently by IDF fire. Katz’s daughter Doron Katz-Asher was kidnapped along with the latter’s daughters Raz, then aged 5, and Aviv, then 2. The latter three were released in a hostage deal in November 2023.

According to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, Mozes established himself as an expert agronomist who frequently lectured on agriculture, and was a founding member of the kibbutz’s vineyard and helped maintain its community vegetable garden.

His family describes him as a devoted family man and a loving grandfather, known for his sociable nature and his belief in human goodness and coexistence.

Mozes is also being held by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and was filmed in a propaganda clip alongside fellow hostage Elad Katzir that was released in December 2023.

Katzir, also from Nir Oz, was killed in captivity, and his body was returned to Israel by the IDF in April 2024.

Israeli officials confirmed Wednesday that five Thai hostages will be released on Thursday in addition to the releases of Yehoud, Berger, and Mozes.

At least 31 Thai nationals were among the 251 people kidnapped from southern Israel on October 7. Nearly 16 months later, eight of them remain in captivity.

The eight Thai nationals still held in Gaza are Surasak Lamnau, Pingsa Nattapong, Bannawat Seathao, Sathian Suwankam, Sriaoun Watchara, and Pongsak Tanna, as well as Sudthisak Rinthalak and Sonthaya Oakkharasr, both of whom have been confirmed dead.

It was unclear which five of the eight Thai hostages would be released Thursday.

The Thais are not part of the 33 Israeli hostages included in the first phase of the ongoing deal, and are being released separately.

Tens of thousands of laborers from Southeast Asia were working in Israel, when the Hamas attack unfolded, many of them as farmhands in Israel’s agricultural heartland near the Gaza border.

Thai nationals were by far the largest group and the most heavily affected, with at least 32 killed in the massacre, according to Bangkok.

During the November 2023 ceasefire-hostage deal, 23 Thai hostages were released.

Eighty-seven of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF. The bodies of 40 others have been recovered throughout the course of the war.

So far, seven hostages have been freed as part of the current deal, which mandates the release of 33 so-called “humanitarian hostages” during its first 42-day phase, with fighting stopped in the Strip.

As those hostages — women, children, elderly people, and sick people — are gradually released, Israel is to release some 1,904 Palestinian security prisoners, including more than a hundred serving life sentences for deadly terror attacks.

The three-phase deal’s later stages are subject to negotiations with the stated goal of reaching a “sustainable calm” in the enclave, alongside the release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza, the release of more Palestinian security prisoners, and an Israeli withdrawal from the Strip.

Ahead of the slated release of eight hostages from Gaza Thursday, the International Committee of the Red Cross said it does not have any control over how Hamas conducts itself during the handover process, in light of Hamas’s questionable conduct during previous releases.

Freed hostages have noted handovers while surrounded by hostile mobs as being particularly frightening and traumatic.

“The ICRC is in contact with all sides regarding the terms of the release of hostages and detainees,” organization spokesman Gilad Grossman said in response to a query from the Times of Israel. “While we bring up our concerns, we are not the ones who determine these terms.”

During the release on January 19, of Doron Steinbrecher, Romi Gonen and Emily Damari, the hostages were surrounded by an unruly crowd. When IDF soldiers Naama Levy, Liri Albag, Daniella Gilboa and Karina Ariev were freed on Saturday, they were paraded on a stage in fake military uniforms while holding Hamas documentation. A Red Cross official also signed documents while sitting on the Hamas stage.

“Our mission is to ensure that we carry out what the sides have requested from us,” Grossman added. “So far, we have successfully helped with the return of seven hostages, and are ready to carry out any further agreed-upon release operations.”

The organization declined to comment on whether it expects any changes during the releases scheduled for tomorrow and Saturday.

The Prime Minister’s Office did not respond to a request for comment on the issue.