These are three citizens, Romi Gonen, 24 years old; Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31. The Red Cross reports they are in “good health.” The release was in exchange for the release of 90 Palestinian prisoners.
The Israeli army has announced this release of three Israeli hostages in the hands of the Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas as part of the initiative to fully exchange Gaza militia prisoners for Palestinian prisoners The ceasefire started this morning.
The release of Romi Gonen, 24 years old; Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, in exchange for 90 Palestinian prisoners began this afternoon around 3 p.m. and represents the beginning of six weeks of gradual exchanges between 33 hostages and more than 1,900 prisoners.
“The Red Cross Organization has stated that it has already received the three Israeli kidnapped women and are on their way to the armed forces and the Shin Bet in the Gaza Strip,” the Israeli army announced on its social networking account X.
Minutes earlier, the army had asked the mothers of the three hostages to go to a military base near the Gaza border and from there to accompany their daughters to Sheba Hospital in Tel Aviv.
The three women have spent 471 days in captivity since they were captured by Hamas on October 7, 2023.
Who are the three Israeli hostages released by Hamas?
Romi Gonen (24 years old), was kidnapped during the attack on the Nova music festival, where Hamas killed around 360 people and took another 40 hostage on October 7, 2023. Before she was kidnapped, she called her mother Meirav and told her that he had been admitted to the festival, where three of his friends died.
This young woman lived in Kfar Vradim, a city in the north of the country, and has four brothers.
Doron Steinbrecher (31 years old) lived in the kibbutz Kfar Anza, two kilometers from the Gaza border, where she was kidnapped on October 7. When Hamas militants entered the kibbutz, he was in contact with his sister and parents, who were in safe rooms in their homes. “When it was all over and the security forces arrived at her house, they found no body or blood. We knew they had taken her,” her mother, Simona, told the press.
According to the Family Forum, she worked at the kibbutz as a veterinary nurse.
Emily Damari (28 years old) is also a British citizen and lived in the same kibbutz as Doron. In their part of the farming community, known as ‘the new generation’, eleven people were murdered and seven taken hostage, including Emily and Doron.
During the Hamas attack, she was shot in the leg by the militants, who killed her dog before putting her in a car with two other friends from the kibbutz, Gali and Ziv Berman, who remain kidnapped. During the November ceasefire, when Hamas freed 105 hostages, some of them testified that they had seen her alive.
“She is a central figure in the local youth community of Kfar Aza and is always there for her friends,” the Family Forum says about her.
Israel is preparing to release 90 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of hostages from Gaza
In turn, Israel is completing preparations for the release of the 90 Palestinian prisoners, including 9 minors and 69 women, who will be exchanged this Sunday for the three freed hostages.
The Israeli Prison Service has announced that Palestinian prisoners are already in Ofer Prison (in the West Bank, north of Jerusalem), where they will undergo medical examinations and identity tests.
From there, 76 prisoners will be transferred to the West Bank, while another 14 will go to East Jerusalem.
Source: EITB
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
