Hamas set to release eight Israeli, Thai hostages

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said five Thai and three Israeli hostages will be freed on Thursday, as part of the Gaza ceasefire.

"Israel received the list of hostages who are supposed to be released from Hamas captivity tomorrow," the prime minister's office said on Wednesday, adding that further details would be given "after the families are updated".

Three of the hostages set to be released are Arbel Yehud (29 years old), Gadi Moses (80 years old), and Agam Berger (19 years old).

The names of the five Thai citizens have not been made public.

Three men are also expected to be released on Saturday.

Israeli authorities had demanded Yehud’s release during the second hostage-prisoner swap on Saturday in exchange for allowing hundreds of thousands of displaced Gazans to return to their homes in the north.

It was only after Islamic Jihad released video footage of Yehud speaking, and Hamas sources said she was "alive and in good health," that Israel began allowing Gazans to return north on Monday. 

Hamas has so far released seven hostages, with 290 Palestinian prisoners freed in exchange.

The Palestinian Prisoners' Club said 110 Palestinian prisoners will be freed on Thursday. 

The group said the prisoners were expected to arrive in the "Radana area of Ramallah at around noon".

Publishing the list of the prisoners, the group said 30 were under the age of 18, 32 had been sentenced to life imprisonment, and 48 others were serving jail terms of varying lengths.

The group also said that 20 of the prisoners set to be released would be sent into exile.

The ceasefire agreement is intended to end more than 15 months of war between Israel and Hamas that killed more than 47,000 Palestinians. 

The two sides are currently implementing the first 42-day phase of the agreement, which should see 33 hostages freed.

Next, they are due to start discussing a long-term end to the war.

Details surrounding the second and third phases of the ceasefire remain unconfirmed, however, they are likely to entails the release of more hostages, the withdrawal of Israeli forces, and reconstruction.