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Thank God, May She Return Soon

Terrorists provide proof Arbel Yehud still alive

Palestinian Islamic Jihad has provided proof of life of hostage Arbel Yehud.

Avi Woolf
Avi Woolf
2 min read
Arbel Yehud

Proof of life of the hostage Arbel Yehud was provided to Israel as one of the conditions for opening up the Netzarim corridor to allow Gazans to move back home in the northern Strip. This proof is a video of her speaking in a recording of how she is OK (see end of article).

Hamas' refusal to free Yehud along with the other four hostages released last Saturday despite previous agreements was a serious point of contention between Israel and Hamas, as the former considered it to be a serious breach of the agreement.

In retaliation, Israel closed off the Netzarim corridor and refused to allow displaced Gazans from the northern Gaza Strip to cross it and return to what is left of their homes after over a year of intense urban combat. Israel said that unless Yehud was released, the Corridor would remain closed.

Following intense negotiations with the hostage deal mediators, a deal was struck whereby Arbel and two others would be released before the third round of hostage releases, before Shabbat, with the three hostages being released at that time being live males.

According to a list provided by Hamas to Israel, 18 hostages set to be freed in the first phase of the deal are known to be alive while 8 are dead. All the relevant families of hostages were updated on this matter. Relatives of the Bibas family said that they will continue to hope for their safe return despite the documented worries about their condition and whether they are alive.

The remaining hostages are men who are either wounded or sick, or who are aged 50-85 and thus not considered active or reserve military men.

While the video and pictures of Arbel are in JFeed's possession, they will not be made available unless and until the Arbel family agrees to let them be made public. If and when this happens, we will add them to this article.


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