3 female Israeli hostages released: Romi Gonen, Emily Damari, Doron Steinbrecher
Hostages to be released in first phase are women, children, elderly and wounded
The Hamas terror organization released three female Israeli hostages on Sunday. They are alive and were transferred into the hands of Red Cross workers who transported them out of Gaza to meet with the Israel Defense Forces.
Twenty-eight-year-old Emily Damari, 24-year-old Romi Gonen, and 31-year-old Doron Steinbrecher were released by the terror group to Red Cross representatives in the Gaza Strip, where they were then taken to meet IDF representatives and medical personnel at an Israeli-controlled point in the Strip.
After the release of the three women today, the next group of hostages is expected to be released next Sunday. Hamas is supposed to provide the names of the hostages to be released at least 24 hours before their release.
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In total, 33 hostages will be released in this phase of the hostage release ceasefire deal, in return, Israel has promised to release around 1,900 security prisoners and other detainees, increase humanitarian aid into Gaza, and withdraw the IDF from several areas of the Gaza Strip.
All the hostages to be released in the first phase are considered to be in the humanitarian category — women, children, elderly and sick or wounded. No active-duty male soldiers or men within their reserve duty years are expected to be released in this stage.
All three women are alive, although they might have medical complications due to improperly treated injuries from their capture on Oct. 7, 2023.
Romi Gonen
Romi Gonen, 24, from Kfar Vradim, was abducted from the Nova party in Re’im. During conversations she had with her mother, Merav, at the time of the abduction, she revealed that she had been taken from the car in which she was trying to flee, and that she had been shot in the hand. Three of her friends who were with her in the car were murdered — her close friend Gaia Halifa, Ben Shimoni who went back three times to save people, and Ophir Tzarfati, whose body was abducted to Gaza and released in December 2023.
Romi marked her 24th birthday in captivity in August, and her family observed the occasion by asking people to pray for her release.
Emily Damari
Emily Damari, 28, a British-Israeli citizen, was kidnapped from her apartment in the youth neighborhood of Kfar Azah, by armed terrorists from Hamas along with her best friend, Gali Berman, and his twin brother, Ziv. The terrorists took them to Gaza in her car, after killing her dog.
Another hostage, 18-year-old Shagam Goldstein, reported seeing Emily in captivity before her release during the first deal in November 2023. The family has not received any other signs of life since her capture.
Doron Steinbrecher
Doron Steinbrecher, 31, is a veterinary nurse, also kidnapped from her apartment in Kfar Azah. She was seen in a video released by Hamas in January 2024, which also showed Daniella Gilboa and Karina Aryev. Her family has raised concerns that she has not received medications during her captivity. Due to a chronic illness, Doron takes daily medication.
Hamas earlier claimed that it had not received the list of the 90 names of political detainees to be released in exchange for the three hostages.
This article was originally published at All Israel News
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