Two of the three Israeli hostages and five Thai nationals who were kidnapped by Hamas terrorists were freed on Thursday following 481 days in captivity in the third hostage exchange under the Gaza cease-fire deal.
Agam Berger, 19, Gadi Moses, 80, and Arbel Yehud, 29, were received by the International Committee of the Red Cross, which coordinated with Hamas to secure the handover in the Gaza Strip.
As with the previous exchanges, the hostages were forced to join the Hamas parade celebrating the hand-off, with the hostages now en route to meet with Israeli soldiers to escort them home.
Berger, 19, was the last female IDF soldier in Hamas captivity after the terrorists freed four of her colleagues last week, all of whom were kidnapped from a southern military base during the Oct. 7 terrorist attack.
The troops were featured in cruel propaganda video touting their capture as the bloodied women were surrounded by the bodies of their fellow soldiers, with the terrorists threatening sexual violence against them.
Joining Berger is Yehud, whose surprise exclusion from last week’s exchange threatened to sink the cease-fire deal as it was agreed that female civilians would be freed before soldiers.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another Islamist terror group in Gaza, later revealed it had Yehud in custody and released a propaganda video on Monday claiming the 29-year-old was doing “OK.”
Both Yehud and Moses were kidnapped from their homes in the Kibbutz Nir Oz, where Hamas terrorists also killed Moses’ 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.
His family has been worried about his condition after nearly 16 months in captivity, with the elderly man celebrating his 80th birthday as a hostage last March.
Hamas also released five Thai nationals on Thursday, with officials saying that now only three Thai men remain in captivity.
The terror group kidnapped 33 Thai nationals during the Oct. 7 attack, many of whom were working in southern Israeli farms when Hamas launched its invasion.
