Hamas released eight hostages, including three Israelis and five Thais, on Thursday as part of a hostage-for-prisoner exchange, more than a year after they were taken captive during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Agam Berger, an Israeli army soldier, was released first in a highly choreographed ceremony in northern Gaza. A second hostage release in southern Gaza descended into chaos as crowds pushed forward to try to get a glimpse of them.
The hostage release is part of a 42-day cease-fire deal that went into effect this month, pausing the fighting between Israel and Hamas. Hamas agreed to incrementally release 33 of the nearly 100 remaining hostages in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinians jailed by Israel and a partial Israeli withdrawal.
Here’s a closer look at the Israelis released on Thursday.
Agam Berger
Ms. Berger was 19 and recently assigned as a lookout when Hamas-led militants stormed the Nahal Oz army base where she was working, killing more than 50 soldiers and abducting her and six other soldiers. Four of them were earlier released in an exchange on Saturday.
Ms. Berger’s mother, Meirav, said she last saw her daughter when they dropped her off at the base on Oct. 5, 2023, two days before the attack. According to a website created by her family, and her parents’ accounts in Israeli news media, Ms. Berger called her parents in the middle of the attack, using the phone of a friend who was killed next to her. She told them that she could hear shots being fired and that people were crying, but that she was not afraid, according to the website.
In November 2023, Agam Goldstein-Almog, who was taken captive with her daughter and two sons and was released as part of the first cease-fire deal, said that she had been held in a tunnel with Ms. Berger and the other soldiers serving as lookouts who had been captured. She said that Ms. Berger was praying a lot, and seemed to be in good spirits.
In August, Ms. Berger’s family held an event to mark her birthday at Tel Aviv’s Anu Museum of the Jewish People, centered on music because she is passionate about music and plays the violin. She has a twin sister and two other siblings.
Gadi Moses
Gadi Moses, a farming expert, was abducted in Kibbutz Nir Oz after stepping out of his home to try to reason with the militants.
His partner, Efrat Katz, hid inside a safe room in their home with her daughter and two visiting grandchildren, before they were also taken by militants. Their kidnapping was captured on video that showed them squashed in the back of a pickup truck.
Ms. Katz was killed when an Israeli helicopter, responding to the Hamas-led assault, fired on the vehicle in which she was being held. Her daughter and grandchildren were released during the November 2023 cease-fire.
Mr. Moses, then 79, was seen in December of 2023 in a video released by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, calling on Israel to work for his release. The family said in September that they had had no word of his fate since.
Arbel Yehud
Arbel Yehud was 28 when she was taken hostage along with her boyfriend, Ariel Cunio, from their home on Kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel. Mr. Cunio is believed to still be held captive. Her brother, Dolev Yehud, a medic, was thought to be a hostage as well but was identified last year as having been killed during the Oct. 7 attack.
Ms. Yehud’s family has described her as passionate about space and astronomy and said she had worked as a guide at a space and technology center.
In February, her father, Yechi Yehud, told The Daily Mail that he had been avoiding watching or reading any news so as not to raise his hopes for a deal. Her mother, Yael Yehud, described herself as “broken” and said she often imagined her children walking through the door again.
On Ms. Yehud’s 29th birthday in June, her close friend, Shani Goren, who had been a hostage and was released in the first cease-fire deal, spoke at a rally in Tel Aviv and described the difficulty of recovering.
“Every day I wake up, I’m still held hostage,” she said. “Because until Arbel and everyone else return home, we can’t even begin to discuss rehabilitation and moving forward. I know. I was there.”
Ms. Yehud had been expected to be released on Saturday, prompting one of the most significant disputes between Israel and Hamas since the start of the cease-fire.
Israeli officials had said they believed she was not being held by Hamas, and had suggested that another militant group was responsible for the holdup in her release. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad on Monday released a video, which an analysis by The New York Times dates to Jan. 25, in which she says, “My family, I’m OK. I miss you endlessly and I hope to return to you soon, like the girls who had been released.”
Rights groups and international law experts have noted that, by definition, such hostage videos are made under duress, and that the statements in them are usually coerced.
