Hamas confirmed on Sunday that 28-year-old Emily Damari, 23-year-old Romi Gonen, and 31-year-old Doron Steinbrecher would be released on the first day of phase one of the hostage-ceasefire deal.
The deal will see 33 hostages released in the first phase in exchange for the release of security prisoners, humanitarian aid, and an IDF withdrawal from some areas in Gaza.
Israel will release 30 Palestinian detainees for every civilian hostage and 50 Palestinian detainees for every Israeli female soldier Hamas releases. Hostages expected to be released in the first phase are those who fall under the humanitarian category, such as women, children, elderly, or wounded.
“The Hostages Families Forum welcomes the exciting news that Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher, and Emily Damari are expected to be released later today. We await their safe return to Israel to be reunited with their families after 471 days in Hamas captivity,” the forum said.
Who is being released on day one?
Doron Steinbrecher is an Israeli-Romanian dual national who turned 31 in captivity. Hamas abducted her from Kfar Aza on October 7 2023, where she was hiding under her bed. Her family has previously raised alarm bells with the Red Cross, concerned Hamas has not been providing her medication.
Emily Damari, a British-Israeli national, was abducted from her Kfar Aza apartment. Terrorists shot her hand and murdered her dog Chooka before taking her in her own car. She was also wounded by shrapnel.
Romi Gonen was abducted from the Nova Music Festival after being shot by the invading terrorists while on the phone to her mother. Her final words before being taken were, “They shot me, Mom, and I’m bleeding. Everyone in the car is bleeding.”
Ben Shimoni, who has garnered the nickname the ‘Angel of Nova,’ is thought to have returned to the site of the music festival to save Romi and other partygoers. Shimoni was murdered by terrorists after successfully saving nine people after driving back to the festival twice.
Delays in the return
The ceasefire, now in effect, was supposed to go into effect at 8:30 a.m. local time on Sunday but was delayed until Hamas provided the list of hostages set for release.
-Hamas is set to release the three of them at 4:00 p.m. local time.
The IDF said Sunday early afternoon that the latest indications are that the three hostages will be released from an area of central Gaza.
Despite that information, until the hostages are actually being moved, the IDF still is not certain about which part of Gaza the hostages will come from.
It said that company-level commanders of special forces would handle the transfer of the hostages into Israeli custody and would be the first to confirm the hostage’s identity finally, including whether they were alive or dead.
That additional information is expected to be passed on to the public closer to the time when the hostages enter makeshift Gaza border absorption centers, prior to them departing again for hospitals inside Israel.
Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this report.
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