Three hostages were released during the first phase of the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel.
The hostages, all women, were freed on Sunday by the Red Cross in Gaza and transferred to Israeli forces, who took them to meet their mothers, the Israeli army said.
Around 100 hostages, living and dead, are believed to remain held in Gaza, most of them captured during Hamas’ deadly attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023. Thirty-three of them will be released during an initial period of six months. week-long phase of the ceasefire, including female soldiers and civilians, children, men over 50 and the sick and wounded, according to the agreement.
“The vast majority” of the 33 hostages who will be released during the first six-week phase of the ceasefire are alive, an Israeli army spokesman, Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, said on Sunday. during a discussion on social networks.
Video released by the Israeli army showed the three hostages were reunited with their families at Sheba Hospital in Israel.
In one clip, one of the returned hostages, Romi Gonen, is surrounded in an embrace by her family members as they tearfully comfort each other. Yarden Gonen, her sister, who has traveled the world over the past year to lobby for Romi’s release, jumps up and down in the video as the family embraces. In another clip, another freed hostage, Doron Steinbrecher, tearfully embraces his loved ones.
Romi Gonen
Ms. Gonen was 23 when she was captured while trying to leave the Nova Music Festival in southern Israel during the Hamas attack. She was speaking at the time to her mother, Meirav Gonen, who said she had been shot and was bleeding.
Last February, Meirav Gonen released a recording of his last phone call with his daughter. She told Israeli media that Romi was a strong and happy person who often went to raves.
In the first weeks of the war, his mother worried that Israeli military operations in Gaza might endanger the hostages.
Romi Gonen’s older sister, Yarden, told The New York Times in February that she regularly visited a Tel Aviv square where hostage families held vigils.
“None of us do anything related to our past lives,” she said.
Emilie Damari
Ms Damari, aged 27 at the time of her capture, is the only British hostage still held this month. She was taken to her home on Kibbutz Kfar Azza in southern Israel and was seen by a neighbor in her own car, driven by a militant, heading towards Gaza.
Ms. Damari grew up in Israel but often traveled to Britain, according to her mother, British-born Mandy Damari, who was in Israel last month to speak with officials and media and to advocate for a hostage-taking and cease-fire agreement. She said her daughter had been shot and she feared for her life, tell the BBC that she welcomed President-elect Donald J. Trump’s threats that there would be “hell to pay” if no deal was reached before his inauguration.
Last January, a hostage released from Gaza, Dafna Elyakim, told Israeli media that she and her younger sister were taken to Hamas’ underground tunnels, where they met other female hostages, including Ms. Damari.
On the eve of the first anniversary of the October 7 attacks, Mandy Damari spoke to an event in Hyde Park in London, where she described her daughter as a football fan who loved a drink and had “the classic British sense of humor, with a touch of Israeli sass thrown in for good measure.”
On Sunday, Mandy Damari thanked “everyone who never stopped fighting for Emily throughout this horrible ordeal.” But, she said in a statement, “for too many other families, the impossible wait continues.”
The Israeli military also released a photo of Emily Damari and her mother that shows two fingers missing from her left hand. Ms. Damari was shot in the hand on October 7, 2023.
Doron Steinbrecher
Ms Steinbrecher, who was 30 when she was captured at her home in Kibbutz Kfar Azza, is a veterinary nurse of Romanian and Israeli nationality. According to Israeli news mediashe was in contact with her family on the kibbutz when the militants attacked her, telling her parents that they had broken her windows and shot into her room.
“They got here, they got me,” she said in a later voicemail sent to friends.
Last January, Hamas released a video clip of Ms. Steinbrecher and two other captives, Daniella Gilboa and Karina Ariev, in which they pleaded for their release.
Last March, on the occasion of its 31st birthday, the Jewish Information Syndicate published an interview with her mother, Simona Steinbrecher, who said she looked pale and thin in the video. She said she was concerned that Ms. Steinbrecher was not receiving the daily medication she needed, although she did not specify what that was.
“She’s a strong woman, but it’s terrible to be there,” said Simona Steinbrecher.
On Sunday, Doron Steinbrecher’s family released a statement celebrating his release in which they thanked the Israeli people and expressed gratitude to Mr. Trump “for his significant involvement and support, which means so much to us.” The statement does not mention President Biden or any Israeli leader.
