Arbel Yehud is a hostage from Israel at the center of the crisis of testing agreement on the termination of fire between Israel and Hamas. She was caught during the Hamas on October 7, 2023 from her house to Nir Oz, a village in southern Israel near the Palestinian enclave.

Mrs. Yehud, who was 28 at the time, was abducted with her partner, Ariel Cuni, who also remained in Gaza.

Mrs. Yehud is the last woman hostage of civilian, who Israel believes is most likely alive. Another civilian woman, Shiri Bibas, remains in Gaza after she was abducted from Nir Oz with her two little sons, Ariel, who was 4 years old at the time, and Kfir, who was 9 months old. The Israeli army expressed great concern about Mrs. Bibas and her children’s lives, although their death was not confirmed.

Mrs. Yehud’s brother, Dolev Yehud, has disappeared for months and has also been assumed to be abducted. It later became clear that he never arrived in Gaza: in June 2024. The Israeli authorities declared him dead after his remains were identified in Nir Oz with a new testing.

According to the provisions of the Fire Interruption Agreement, Mrs. Yehud was to be among the first two groups of hostages liberated on January 19 and 25, according to the Israeli authorities. Israel demanded that his civilians be released before captured soldiers, four of which were released on Saturday.

Mrs. Yehud seems to be in the detention of another group, Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The official of that group said on Sunday the New York Times that she would be released before next Saturday.

Immediately after midnight on Monday, Israel, Qatar and Hamas announced that the resolution was finalized for the release of Arbel Yehud and two other Israeli hostages until next Friday, and three more hostages will be released on Saturday. In exchange, Israel would begin to allow Palestinians in Gaza who are displaced to return to the north of the enclave, officials said.

Mrs. Yehud has deep roots in the Nir Oz community as a member of the third generation of his family who lives there, according to the forum of hostages and missing families, a local organization that is advocated by hostage release. She worked in the community’s education system before becoming a guide at Groovetech, an innovative learning center in southern Israel that focuses on universe and technology research.

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 military, intelligence and government debacle, which led to the attack and failed to protect the citizens of the country that day. It was a little Kibuc, or a social 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 the hostage women in New York in December, Lian Weiss, cousin Mrs. Yehud, begged for their release. “Please close your eyes for a moment and imagine: Imagine that it is you. You are torn from your home, “she said, adding,” we cannot let this become theirs forever. Every moment we delay is another moment of agony for these women. We have to act. We have the power to change their fate. ”