Arbel Yehud is a female Israeli hostage at the center of the crisis that tested an agreement on the termination of fire between Israel and Hamas. It was seized during an attack on Hamas on October 7, 2023. From its house to Nir Oz, villages in southern Israel near the Palestinian enclave border.
Mrs. Yehud, who was 28 at the time, was abducted with her partner Ariel Cunio, who also remains in Gaza.
Mrs. Yehud is the last female civilian hostage that Israel believes is most likely alive. Another civilian woman, Shiri Bibas, remains in Gaza after she was abducted from Nir Oz with her two young sons, Ariel, who was 4 years old at the time, and Kfir, who was 9 months old. The Israeli army expressed serious concern about Mrs. Bibas and her children’s lives, although their death was not confirmed.
Mrs. Yehud’s brother, Dolev Yehud, was missing for months, and it was also assumed to be abducted. Later it became clear that he never entered Gaza: in June 2024. The Israeli authorities declared him dead after his posthumous remains were identified in Nir Oz with a new testing.
According to the terms of agreement on the termination of fire, Mrs. Yehud was to be among the first two groups of hostages published on January 19 and January 25, according to the Israeli authorities. Israel requested that her civilians be released before captured soldiers, Four were released on Saturday.
Mrs. Yehud may seem to be in the custody of another group, Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The official of that group told the New York Times on Sunday that it would be announced before next Saturday.
Just after midnight on Monday, Israel, Qatar and Hamas announced that the resolution was completed to publish Arbel Yehud and two more Israeli hostage until next Friday, and three more soils will be announced on Saturday. In exchange, Israel would begin to allow Palestinians in Gaza who were displaced to return to north of the enclave, the officials said.
Mrs. Yehud has deep roots in the Nir Oz community as a member of the third generation of his family who will stay there, according to the hostage forum and missing families, the organization of the root that is advocated by hostages. She worked in the community education system before becoming a guide at Groovetech, an innovative learning center in southern Israel, which focuses on the research and technology of the universe.
Mrs. Yehud and Mr. Cunio returned from a tour of South America shortly before the 2023 attack, according to the forum.
Nir Oz has become a symbol Israeli army, intelligence and government debacle that led to the attack and failed to protect the citizens of the country that day. It was a small kibutz or municipal village, of approximately 400 people before the attack, during which more than a quarter of the population was killed or abducted.
Speaking at a protest on behalf of women’s hostages in New York in December, Lian Weiss, a cousin of Mrs. Yehud, prayed for their release. “Please close your eyes for a moment and imagine: Imagine that you are. You’ve thrown out of your home,” she said, adding, “We can’t let it become forever. Every moment we delay is another moment of agony for these women . We have to act.
