German-Israeli hostage Arbel Yehoud to be released

As hundreds of thousands of Palestinians return to the bombed out ruins of their homes in northern Gaza, Israelis await the return of more loved ones held hostage in the enclave.

One of those hostages is 29-year-old Arbel Yehoud, who was supposed to have been released last Saturday. However, the Islamist militant group Hamas, whom the EU, US and others consider a terror organization, released four female Israeli soldiers instead.

In response to the violation of the current ceasefire agreement, Israel promptly halted the return of Palestinians heading north. Yehoud’s release was a precondition laid down by Israel before it ultimately agreed to allow Gazans to return.

Female soldier Agam Berger and German-Israeli citizen Gadi Moses will return home with Yehoud. The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday announced that five Thai citizens will also be released. More hostage exchanges are planned for Saturday.

Waiting and worrying for nearly 16 months

Arbel Yehoud was kidnapped during Hamas’ terror attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. She and her boyfriend Ariel Cunio’s family were abducted from the Nir Oz kibbutz near the Gaza border.

Initially, they hid in the house of her partner’s brother but the attackers set fire to it, forcing them all out into the open. Yehoud’s brother Dolev was murdered during the Hamas massacre. Some 1,200 Israelis were killed during the terror attack and another 250 were taken hostage.

Arbel Yehoud’s family has been forced to wait and worry for nearly 16 months. Now, it seems they will finally be able to hold her in their arms on Thursday.

When DW spoke with Yehoud’s father, Yechti, in December he described her as: “always optimistic, always happy, always ready to help. She’s the center of a friends’ group in the Kibbutz. She is like a magnet for everybody. I hope that this personality of hers will help her to not break down.”

Before her abduction, Arbel Yehoud was employed as a visitor chaperone at Groovetech, a company that deals with technology and space exploration and is located close to Nir Oz, where she grew up.

Like the relatives of many other Hamas hostages, Arbel Yehoud’s family engaged in numerous activities aimed at securing a ceasefire and the safe return of their loved ones.

Yehoud’s father met with Israeli and German politicians

Beyond talks with Israeli politicians, Yechti Yehoud also traveled to Berlin, where he spoke with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. Not only is Arbel Yehoud an Israeli citizen, the great-granddaughter of a Hamburg painter, she also has a German passport.

Yechti Yehoud told DW that he had the impression the German government was very receptive and engaged. Still, he said he had hoped they would put more pressure on the Israeli government, “to solve the problem, not just for the hostages, also for the people in Gaza.”

After months of negotiations between Israel and Hamas, international mediators succeeded in bringing about a temporary ceasefire that began on January 19. During the first six-week phase of the deal, 33 Israeli hostages are to be released in exchange for 1,904 Palestinians currently held in Israeli jails. Of the 33, seven captives have so far been set free, all of them females.

Women, the elderly, and children have been prioritized. Arbel’s partner Ariel Cunio will remain in captivity for some time, as will his brother. Yechti Yehoud says he’s in close contact with Ariel’s family. Arbel and Ariel had been together for five years when Hamas abducted them. They had just returned home from a trip to South America before they were dragged away to Gaza.

A birthday and a new nephew

It is unclear if the two were near one another while in captivity. For now at least, Arbel appears to be in the hands of militants from the group Islamic Jihad, which is allied with Hamas and participated in the October 7 attack.

On Monday, the group released a video of Arbel. In it, she assured her family that she was in good health and called on Prime Minister Netanyahu to do everything in his power to secure the release of all remaining hostages in Gaza.

Arbel Yehoud, who spent her 29th birthday in captivity, also became an aunt again during that time: Nine days after the attack, her murdered brother Dolev’s widow gave birth to a baby boy, Arbel’s fourth nephew.

Jan-Philipp Scholz contributed to this article.

This article was originally published in German and translated by Jon Shelton