Israel Says Eight Hostages Including Five Thais to Be Freed Thursday

 Tents are set up next to houses destroyed by Israeli bombardment in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, after Israel began allowing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to return to the heavily damaged area last Monday.(AP)
Tents are set up next to houses destroyed by Israeli bombardment in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, after Israel began allowing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to return to the heavily damaged area last Monday.(AP)
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Israel Says Eight Hostages Including Five Thais to Be Freed Thursday

 Tents are set up next to houses destroyed by Israeli bombardment in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, after Israel began allowing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to return to the heavily damaged area last Monday.(AP)
Tents are set up next to houses destroyed by Israeli bombardment in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, after Israel began allowing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to return to the heavily damaged area last Monday.(AP)

Hamas will release three Israelis, including two women and an 80-year-old man, as well as five Thai nationals during the next hostage release, slated for Thursday, officials from Israel and Hamas said as a tenuous ceasefire between the sides moves ahead.  

The officials named the Israeli women as Arbel Yehoud, 29, Agam Berger, 19, and the man as Gadi Moses, 80.

The officials, who spoke on Wednesday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, said the hostages’ families had approved the publication of their names.  

The identities of the Thai nationals were not immediately known.  

A number of foreign workers were taken captive along with dozens of Israeli civilians and soldiers during Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack that set off the war in Gaza.  

The expected release will keep up the momentum of the fragile ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas group that began earlier this month and which paused the 15-monthlong war in Gaza.  

As part of the deal, Hamas is releasing hostages in phases in exchange for freedom for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.  

Hostages and prisoners will be released twice this week  

The deal had been negotiated for months under the Biden administration but was finally sealed after President Donald Trump threatened there would be “hell to pay” if the hostages weren't returned.

Trump's Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff, was in Israel on Wednesday and met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who heads to Washington next week to meet Trump — the first foreign leader to meet the US president in his second term in office.  

Thursday's release wasn't originally scheduled but came as a result of a standoff between Israel and Hamas over the identities of the hostages released over the weekend.  

Israel had demanded that Yehoud, a civilian, be part of that group and when she wasn't freed, Israel held up the movement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians looking to return to what is left of their homes in the war-battered north of Gaza.  

International mediation efforts brought about the additional release on Thursday and cleared the way for Palestinians to stream north.  

Another release is slated for Saturday, which Netanyahu's office said would free male hostages.  

Dozens of Palestinian prisoners are set to be freed both Thursday and Saturday. 



Sharaa Tours More Syrian Cities ahead of National Conference

This handout picture released by the Syrian Presidency on February 16, 2025 shows Syria's interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa attending a meeting with officials and local leaders in the western coastal city of Tartus. (Syrian Presidency / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Syrian Presidency on February 16, 2025 shows Syria's interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa attending a meeting with officials and local leaders in the western coastal city of Tartus. (Syrian Presidency / AFP)
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Sharaa Tours More Syrian Cities ahead of National Conference

This handout picture released by the Syrian Presidency on February 16, 2025 shows Syria's interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa attending a meeting with officials and local leaders in the western coastal city of Tartus. (Syrian Presidency / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Syrian Presidency on February 16, 2025 shows Syria's interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa attending a meeting with officials and local leaders in the western coastal city of Tartus. (Syrian Presidency / AFP)

Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa visited the coastal cities of Latakia and Tartus on Sunday as part of a tour of the country that he kicked off on Saturday in the Idlib and Aleppo provinces.

The tour is taking place weeks ahead of a national conference scheduled in Homs in central Syria.

Sharaa was warmly welcomed by crowds that gathered in Latakia city center near the Jules Jammal school, which holds historic and national significance.

The school was established in the early 1920s and it helped shape national awareness in the country. It was the launch point for student protests and an arena for electoral tensions between the Baath party, Muslim Brotherhood and Syrian nationalists.

It was shut during the rule of ousted President Bashar al-Assad, leaving it in neglect despite its significance to the people.

Sharaa deliberately chose to greet the people near the school to underscore Latakia’s national role that was usurped by the Assad regime.

In Aleppo on Saturday, Sharaa attended an open dialogue discussion with several social and economic figures from the city and its countryside.

He listened to their proposals and demands, with sources saying that the talks focused on the state of affairs in Syria and efforts to revive it after the war and regime ouster.

This handout picture released by the Syrian Presidency on February 16, 2025 shows Syria's interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa attending a meeting with officials and local leaders in the western coastal city of Latakia. (Syrian Presidency / AFP)

Sharaa stressed Aleppo’s economic significance and role in the industry sector.

He underlined his confidence that Syria will rise again thanks to its people, telling the crowd that the interim government is focusing on setting plans for 2025 and 2026.

The sources said Sharaa sought to assure the people, emphasizing that “everyone was under the law” and that Syria is not a sectarian state.

He urged them to trust him in tackling the issues at hand, reiterating that he was walking the “very fine line between transitional justice and civil peace.”

Sharaa also visited Afrin city in Aleppo which is predominantly Kurdish.

He assured that Syrian Kurds were part of the Syrian population.

He visited refugee camps in the northwest, stressing that returning the displaced home was a government priority.

Sharaa’s tour is taking place amid preparations for the national conference in Homs. Consultations have already gotten underway for the meeting.