Palestinian militant groups to release 3 more Israeli hostages

The Palestinian militant groups will release three more Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip on Thursday.

The hostages are Arbel Yehud, who holds both Israeli and German citizenship, as well as female Israeli soldier Agam Berger, and Gadi Moses, who also has German citizenship

The hostages are to be released in exchange for dozens of Palestinian prisoners.

Yehud is being held by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organisation.

He was originally supposed to be released with the last batch of hostages freed on Saturday.

Instead, four female soldiers were released in exchange for 200 Palestinian prisoners.

Israel had demanded that female civilians be released before female soldiers.

Angered at the delay in freeing Yehud, Israel initially blocked the agreed return of internally displaced persons to the north of the Gaza Strip.

However, after a new agreement was reached for the release of the German-Israeli woman and the two other hostages, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were able to make the arduous trek northwards this week

Meanwhile, Moses will be the first male hostage to be freed under the ceasefire agreement.

A three-stage ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas was reached in mid-January after months-long efforts by the United States, Egypt, and Qatar to mediate between the warring parties.

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