Relatives of the three former Israeli hostages released Sunday as part of the truce agreement with Hamas have called for the release of all hostages still held in the Gaza Strip.
“We recovered our Romi but all the families must suffer the same fate, the families of the living and the dead,” declared Meirav Leshem-Gonen, the mother of one of the three young women, during a conference press conference at Sheba hospital, in the suburbs of Tel Aviv.
During the attack on October 7, 2023, Hamas commandos and other Palestinian armed groups kidnapped 251 people, 91 of whom are still in Gaza, among whom 34 were declared dead by the Israeli army.
None of the people who spoke on Monday spoke about the state of health of their loved ones, nor their conditions of detention.
“The road is still long, but together we will overcome and the real victory is their return,” said Ms. Gonen, who thanked all the people who, according to her, allowed the release of her daughter.
Mandy Damari, mother of British-Israeli Emily Damari, also released on Sunday, added, emphasizing that “there are too many families who are still waiting to be able to hug their loved ones, or to bury them as it would be appropriate. must”.
Speaking in English, she assured that her daughter had “high morale”.
-Citing her sister Doron Steinbrecher, the third freed hostage, Yamit Ashkenazy said she had asked “for them all to come back.” “Just as I was lucky to come back, everyone must come back,” Ashkenazy quoted her as saying.
Video images of the young women’s moving reunion with their mothers had been broadcast by the Prime Minister’s office and were playing continuously on Israeli television on Monday.
In one of the videos, Romi Gonen, 23, can be heard telling her father on the phone “I came back alive”, while Emily Damari, 28, shouts “I survived”, raising her hand in gesture. of victory. In another video, we can see Doron Steinbrecher, sobbing in the arms of his mother, who whispers to him: “I’m here, I’m here.”
The three Hamas hostages were released in exchange for around 90 Palestinian prisoners in the first part of the ceasefire agreement, which entered into force on Sunday.
A total of 33 Israeli hostages, 31 of whom were captured during the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, are to be released during an initial 42-day truce, in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinians held by Israel.
