The three hostages were released in the first phase of a cease-fire agreement between Hamas and Israel. The hostages, all women, were released from the Red Cross prison in Gaza on Sunday and were transferred to the Israeli army, who took them to meet their mothers, the Israeli army said.
About 100 prisoners, alive and dead, are believed to be still held captive in Gaza, many of them captured in the deadly Hamas-led war in Israel on Oct. -a week-long ceasefire, including female soldiers and civilians, children, men over 50 and the sick and wounded, according to the agreement.
Here’s what we know about the three hostages who were released on Sunday:
Romi Gonen
Mrs. Gonen was 23 years old when she was caught while trying to leave Nova music festival southern Israel when Hamas attacked. He was speaking at the time to Meirav Gonen’s mother who said he had been shot and was bleeding.
Last February, Meirav Gonen released a video of his last call and his daughter. They 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 he complained that Israeli military operations in Gaza could endanger the hostages.
Romi Gonen’s sister, Yarden, he told The New York Times in February that he regularly went to the theater in Tel Aviv where the families of the captives held epidemics.
“None of us are doing anything related to our past lives,” he said.
Emily Damari
Ms. Damari, 27 at the time of her capture, is the only British national captured in January. He was taken from his home Kibbutz Kfar Azza south of Israel and was seen by a neighbor in his car, controlled by terrorists, towards Gaza.
Ms. Damari was raised in Israel but often visited Britain, according to her mother, British-born Mandy Damari, who was in Israel in December to speak to government officials and the media and to plead for peace and an end to the war. He said that his daughter had been shot and he was afraid of being killed. telling the BBC that he received threats from President-elect Donald J. Trump that there would be “hell to pay” if no deal was reached at his inauguration.
Last January, a hostage who was released from Gaza, Daphne Eliakimtold Israeli media that she and her younger sister were taken to the Hamas underground, where they met other female hostages, including Ms. Damari.
On the evening of the first day of the Oct. 7, Mandy Damari spoke event in Hyde Park in London, where he described his daughter as a hard-drinking soccer fan who had “a British sense of humor, with a dash of Israeli chutzpah thrown in for good measure.”
On Sunday, Mandy Damari thanked “everyone who has never stopped fighting for Emily throughout this process.” But, he said in a statement, “for many other families the unbearable wait continues.”
Doron Steinbrecher
Mrs. Steinbrecher, who was 30 years old when she was abducted from her home in Kibbutz Kfar Azza, is a veterinary nurse with Romanian and Israeli citizenship. According to Israeli newshe joined his family on the kibbutz when the terrorists attacked, telling his parents that they had broken the windows and shot into his room.
“They have arrived, they are with me,” he said in a statement sent to friends.
Last January, Hamas released a video of Ms. Steinbrecher and two other captives, Daniella Gilboa and Karina Ariev, in which they pleaded for their release.
Last March, on his 31st birthday, a Jewish News Syndicate published an interview with his mother, Simona Steinbrecher, who said she looked pale and thin in the video. He said he was concerned that Ms. Steinbrecher was not getting the medication she needed every day, although she did not say what it was.
“She’s a strong woman, but it’s bad to be there,” said Simona Steinbrecher.
2025-01-19 17:04:08
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