Hamas plans to release three Israeli hostages on Thursday, including two women and an 80-year-old man, as well as five Thai nationals abducted during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack.
The Hostages Families Forum said it had received news that Hamas will release the eight abductees. The forum is a volunteer-based group formed by the families of the abductees after the attack.
Among those the militant group plans to release is Arbel Yehoud, 29, whom Israeli officials had expected to be freed last weekend in the first phase of the ceasefire deal, in which a total of 33 hostages are expected to be released.
The other two Israelis expected to be released are Agam Berger, 20, and Gadi Moses, 80.
Berger was working as an observer at Nahal Oz base, where she arrived just two days prior to the Oct. 7 attack, and was captured alongside multiple other observers who have since been released.
Moses was living at kibbutz Nir Oz, where he was one of the founding members of the kibbutz's vineyard and gave lectures on agriculture. His partner was killed in the Oct. 7 attack, the hostage organization said.
Under the terms of the ceasefire agreement, 30 Palestinian prisoners and detainees have been released for civilian hostages and 50 for captive soldiers.
The truce between Israel and Hamas was put in jeopardy on Saturday after Israel blocked Palestinian civilians from moving back to their homes in northern Gaza. Israeli officials said that Hamas had violated the ceasefire agreement because it had failed to release Yehoud, a civilian, before captive soldiers.
Hamas similarly accused Israel of breaking the deal, fueling concerns that a ceasefire that has brought a pause to 15 months of deadly fighting in Gaza could be imperiled.
But on Monday, Qatar, a leading mediator in ceasefire negotiations, said that Yehoud would be freed along with two other hostages before Friday, soothing friction over the deal.
Yehoud was kidnapped from her home in kibbutz Nir Oz, of which her grandparents were founders, along with her boyfriend, Ariel Cunio, 27. The couple had just recently returned to Israel from a trip to South America.
Yehoud's brother, Dolev Yehoud, 25, was also initially believed to have been taken hostage into Gaza, but in September, Israel determined that he had been killed by Hamas on the day of the attacks and that his body had never left Israeli territory.
Cunio and his brother David, 34, remain held captive in Gaza, with neither expected to be released in the first phase of the deal.
Specific details of the second phase of the deal has yet to be agreed upon, although a Middle Eastern official told NBC News on Monday that the second round of talks are likely to begin in Qatar next week.
Three more captives are expected to be released on Saturday in exchange for dozens of Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
Many across Israel are hopeful Kfir Bibas, the youngest hostage to remain in Hamas' captivity, will be among them.
Kfir, now 2, was just under 9 months old when he was taken hostage in the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks, along with his 5-year-old brother, Ariel, and their parents, Yarden and Shiri Bibas.
With 26 Israeli hostages still set to be released as part of the first phase of the ceasefire, a Middle Eastern official briefed on the matter told NBC News on Monday that Hamas has informed Israel that eight of the group are dead.
A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later confirmed that these numbers matched information gleaned by Israeli intelligence.
Hamas' disclosure was believed to be the first time the militant group has made clear how many hostages are dead or alive.
Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari, a dual British citizen, were the first three hostages to be freed by Hamas earlier this month in exchange for 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, all women and children under the age of 19.
Four female Israeli soldiers were later released on Saturday in exchange for 200 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, some of whom were serving life sentences after being convicted of deadly attacks.
Around 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage into Gaza in the Hamas-led terrorist attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, according to Israeli officials.
In the more than 15 months since, more than 47,000 people in Gaza were killed in Israel's offensive, according to Palestinian health officials.
Researchers estimate that the death toll is likely significantly higher because of difficulties in counting the dead amid the war and with thousands missing and feared dead under debris.
This story first appeared on chof360.com. More from NBC News:
