IDF admits Beit Hanoun commander wasn't killed in May strike

Israel said to tell Hamas it expects Arbel Yehoud to be among next freed hostages

Yehoud is thought to be held by Islamic Jihad, leading to apparent concern that Hamas may attempt to put off her release; IDF says troops killed gunman posing threat amid ceasefire

Arbel Yehoud, who was taken hostage with her boyfriend, Ariel Cunio, from their Kibbutz Nir Oz home on October 7. (Courtesy)
Arbel Yehoud, who was taken hostage with her boyfriend, Ariel Cunio, from their Kibbutz Nir Oz home on October 7. (Courtesy)

Israel has conveyed to Hamas that it expects the terror group to free hostage Arbel Yehoud in this weekend’s upcoming release of four hostages from the Gaza Strip, under the ceasefire deal, according to multiple Hebrew media reports on Wednesday.

Yehoud is among the civilian hostages held by Gaza terrorists, and, as a female civilian, should be in the next batch freed. However, she is thought to be held by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group and not Hamas, apparently leading to concern in Jerusalem that Hamas may attempt to put off her release.

Under the agreement, Hamas is expected to provide the names of the four female hostages to be freed by Friday, a day before their scheduled release.

Yehoud, now 29, was taken hostage with her boyfriend, Ariel Cunio, from their Kibbutz Nir Oz home on October 7.

She is one of seven female hostages remaining from the original list of 33 to be released in the first phase of the hostage ceasefire deal. The others are Shiri Silberman Bibas, 33; Liri Albag, 19; Karina Ariev, 20; Agam Berger, 21; Danielle Gilboa, 20 and Naama Levy, 20.

Yehoud and Silberman Bibas are both civilians, while Albag, Ariev, Berger, Gilboa and Levy are soldiers. Bibas’s two young sons Ariel and Kfir, now aged 5 and 2, are also held and are on the list, as is her husband, Yarden Bibas.

The 33 hostages set to be returned in phase one of the Gaza ceasefire deal. Row 1 (L-R): Romi Gonen, Emily Damari, Arbel Yehoud, Doron Steinbrecher, Ariel Bibas, Kfir Bibas, Shiri Bibas; Row 2: Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Agam Berger, Danielle Gilboa, Naama Levy, Ohad Ben-Ami, Gadi Moshe Moses; Row 3: Keith Siegel, Ofer Calderon, Eli Sharabi, Itzik Elgarat, Shlomo Mantzur, Ohad Yahalomi, Oded Lifshitz; Row 4: Tsahi Idan, Hisham al-Sayed, Yarden Bibas, Sagui Dekel-Chen, Yair Horn, Omer Wenkert, Sasha Trufanov; Row 5: Eliya Cohen, Or Levy, Avera Mengistu, Tal Shoham, Omer Shem-Tov (all photos courtesy)

For each of the female soldiers, Israel will release 50 Palestinian prisoners, 30 of them convicted terrorists who are serving life sentences. On Monday, Israel released 30 prisoners for each of the three civilian female hostages — Romi Gonen, Emily Damari, and Doron Steinbrecher — Hamas set free the previous afternoon.

Troops kill Islamic Jihad gunman in Gaza

Earlier Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces said troops deployed inside the enclave amid the ceasefire opened fire on several threats in the past day.

In one incident in southern Gaza, the military said troops identified several gunmen “who posed a threat.” At least one of the gunmen, identified by the IDF as Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative Akram Zanoun, was killed.

In other areas of Gaza, the IDF said troops fired warning shots, after identifying masked suspects approaching them.

“The IDF is determined to fully implement the terms of the agreement to return the hostages. The IDF is prepared for any scenario, and will continue to take all necessary actions to remove any immediate threat to IDF soldiers,” the military said.

“The IDF once again calls on Palestinian civilians to obey IDF instructions and not approach the forces deployed in the area,” it added.

Separately, the IDF acknowledged that it did not kill the commander of Hamas’s Beit Hanoun battalion back in May, after footage published today showed the commander, Hussein Fayyad, alive.

The IDF announces on May 23, 2024 that Hamas’s Beit Hanoun Battalion commander, Hussien Fayyad, was killed by Israeli forces in a tunnel in the Jabaliya area. (Israel Defense Forces

In a statement, the army said that, after Fayyad was targeted in May, “it was determined with a high level of probability by the IDF and Shin Bet that he had been eliminated, following which an IDF spokesperson statement on the subject was issued.

“After further examination, it emerged that the intelligence findings upon which the Intelligence Directorate and Shin Bet relied were not accurate enough,” the military said.

Also Wednesday, reports in Palestinian media claimed that the Hamas operative who killed Border Police officer Staff Sgt. Barel Hadaria Shmueli during a riot on the Gaza border in August 2021 was killed during fighting in Jabalia.

The reports identified the operative as Muhammad Maher Abu Jasser, and said his body was recently found during the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

The military and Shin Bet did not confirm the details.

On August 21, 2021, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip held a large demonstration along the Gaza border, near the defunct Karni Crossing. At one point during the demonstration, dozens of rioters rushed the border barrier, up to a hole in the concrete wall that was being used by Israeli snipers as a firing position.

One man, apparently Abu Jasser, armed with a gun, approached the hole in the wall, stuck his pistol through it, and fired three times. One of these shots struck Shmueli in the head, critically wounding him. He died of his injury days later.

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