Israel at War | Statement on the release of Arbel Yehoud, Agam Berger, Gadi Moses, and Five Thai Citizens

📄 Download the statement versions in English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish

ויֵשׁ תִּקְוָה לְאַחֲרִיתֵךְ נְאֻם יְהוָה וְשָׁבוּ בָנִים לִגְבוּלָם" — יִרְמְיָהוּ ל"א:ט"ז"

“And there is hope for your future, says the Lord, and your children shall come back again to their own border” — Jeremiah 31:17

After 482 days in captivity, we welcome home Agam Berger, Arbel Yehoud, Gadi Moses, and welcome back Pongsak Thenna, Bannawat Seathao, Surasak Lamnau, Watchara Sriaoun, and Sathian Suwannakham, the five Thai citizens who were being held hostage in Gaza.

Today, for the third time in two weeks, we experience a moment of relief and gratitude as eight more hostages are set to reunite with their families and begin rebuilding their lives.

Agam Berger, 20, from Holon, was abducted from the Nahal Oz base, where she served as an observer. Arbel Yehoud, 29, and Gadi Moses, 80, were abducted from their homes in Kibbutz Nir Oz. Pongsak Thenna, Bannawat Seathao, Surasak Lamnau, Watchara Sriaoun, and Sathian Suwannakham were abducted from towns in the Gaza Strip, where they were employed as agricultural workers.

We hold both a sacred duty and a moral right to bring all of our sisters and brothers home. We continue to pray and advocate for the immediate release and safe return of the remaining hostages still in captivity.

❱❱ We share a prayer composed with gratitude by Rabbi Nathalie Lastreger on the redemption of captives, in different languages:

English | French | Hebrew | Portuguese | Spanish