5 hours ago
Last Updated:January 30, 2025, 23:08 IST
The hostages were captured during the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. As part of the exchange, Israel also released 110 Palestinian prisoners
News18
Hamas militants have released eight hostages, including three Israelis and five foreign nationals, as part of the third hostage-prisoner exchange following the ceasefire agreement that began on January 19.
The hostages were captured during the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. As part of the exchange, Israel also released 110 Palestinian prisoners.
Among the hostages freed on Thursday, the first to be released was 20-year-old Israeli soldier Agam Berger, who was handed over to officials from the Committee of the Red Cross in Jabalia, northern Gaza. The other Israeli hostages include 80-year-old farmer Gadi Moses and 29-year-old Arbel Yehud, both of whom also hold German nationality.
This truce, part of an ongoing effort to end the war in Gaza, is based on the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli custody. Prior to Thursday, Hamas had already released seven hostages, with 290 prisoners freed.
Who Are The Israeli Hostages?
Agam Berger (20)
Agam Berger, a soldier, was abducted along with four others while serving on the Gaza border. In a video posted on Telegram, she was seen being taken into a car while wearing her pyjamas.
Agam Goldstein-Almog, a hostage released during a week-long truce in November 2023, told Berger’s family that Agam, a practising Jew, respected the Sabbath during her captivity, refusing to cook or clean for her captors on Saturdays. She was also a source of comfort to the other hostages, even plaiting their hair.
Berger, who has a twin sister, has played the violin since childhood and is from Holon, a suburb of Tel Aviv.
Gadi Moses (80)
Gadi Moses, a farmer who turned 80 while in captivity, lost his wife, Efrat Katz, 69, in the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Prior to being taken hostage, he had been negotiating with the attackers in an effort to save his family.
The other members of his German-Israeli family, who were also abducted, have since been released.
Arbel Yehud (29)
Arbel Yehud, who worked as a guide at a technology centre in her hometown of Nir Oz, was described by family members as a gentle young woman with a magnetic smile.
As Agam Berger and Arbel Yehud are released today, I ask every woman to look at their terrified faces while they are surrounded by hundreds of JIHADI MURDERERS and think about how you would feel being them. If you were 20 years old as they are? If this was your 20 year old… pic.twitter.com/f9FvKjhkfv— Councilwoman Inna Vernikov (@InnaVernikov) January 30, 2025
She turned 29 while in captivity. Arbel was captured alongside her boyfriend, Ariel Cunio, 26. Tragically, her brother, Dolev, 35, was killed in the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. All three had lived in the Nir Oz kibbutz. Ariel and her brother David are still being held in captivity.
(With inputs from agencies)
Location :Israel
First Published:January 30, 2025, 23:08 IST
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