Jerusalem: An Israeli official said Wednesday that Hamas will release three Israelis, including two women and an 80-year-old man, and five Thai nationals in the next hostage release, slated for Thursday.
The official named the Israel women as Arbel Yehoud, 29, Agam Berger, 19, and the man as Gadi Mozes, 80. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak on the record, said the hostages’ families had approved publication of their names.
The official did not name the Thai nationals set to be freed. The release is part of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that has paused the war in Gaza in exchange for freedom for dozens of hostages held in the Palestinian territory and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Word of the next round of releases comes as hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza are streaming toward the north of the war-ravaged territory to return to what is left of their homes, after being told to evacuate the area earlier on in Israel’s war against Hamas.
Earlier Wednesday, the leader of important US ally Egypt rejected President Donald Trump’s suggestion that Egypt take in displaced Palestinians from Gaza, defying a US president who has shown little patience for dissent from international partners.
Trump over the weekend told reporters that Egypt and Jordan should take in Palestinians from war-torn Gaza, an idea that has long been rejected by those countries and the Palestinians themselves because they say it would undermine the notion of Palestinian statehood and foment instability in their states.
Trump said he would urge the leaders of both countries, which are key allies to the U.S. in the Middle East and major recipients of American aid in the region, to accept the idea, saying the resettlement could be temporary or long term.
It is not clear if Trump could force Egypt or Jordan to agree, but he has in his first days in office and on the campaign threatened hefty tariffs against American allies to get his way.