Hostage deal: Who are the three women who were released?

Romi, Emily and Doron: Everyone in Israel knows the names of the three young women who were abducted by Hamas to the Gaza Strip more than 15 months ago. Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher are the first three of 33 Hamas hostages to be released by the Palestinian Islamist organization on Sunday after the ceasefire took effect as part of the first phase of an agreement.

Romi Gonen, who comes from northern Israel, was among the more than 3,000 visitors to the Nova music festival who were attacked at dawn on October 7, 2023 by fighters from the Islamist Hamas and allied Palestinian groups. At the Nova Festival alone, Hamas fighters brutally killed more than 360 young people and kidnapped dozens of them to the Gaza Strip – including Romi Gonen.

The 24-year-old, who is described by her family as a talented dancer and choreographer, tried to escape from the attackers by car. Meanwhile, she called her mother, Merav Leshem Gonen, who kept in touch with her daughter over the noise of explosions and gunfire until it broke off. Romi’s phone was later located in the Gaza Strip. Her empty car was found near the festival site.

Freed hostages later reported injuries to Romi’s hand to Romi’s mother. In the phone call with her mother, the 24-year-old said she had been shot. Since then, Merav Leshem Gonen has fought tirelessly for the release of her daughter and is one of the best-known activists among the hostage relatives.

Emily Damari holds both Israeli and British citizenship. The daughter of a British woman and an Israeli father was born in Israel and grew up in Kfar Aza – from where she was brutally kidnapped on October 7th.

According to her mother Mandy Damari, Emily is a fan of pop stars Ed Sheeran and Adele as well as Tottenham Hotspur football club. Supporters of her favorite club have repeatedly chanted Emily’s name at Premier League games over the past 470 days.

Mandy Damari describes her daughter as an “energetic” young woman with an “infectious laugh.” According to her, the 28-year-old was at home when armed Hamas fighters broke into her apartment and shot her in the hands and legs. Emily’s beloved dog Choocha was killed that day by a shot in the neck.

Mandy Damari said in October that she feared Emily had been forgotten. She repeatedly appealed to the governments in Israel and Great Britain to do everything they could to free the hostages – also in view of “the constant threat of sexual assault.”

An initial reaction from Great Britain said that the British government welcomed Damari’s release. The Foreign Office in London assured her of support after her release.

Doron Steinbrecher was also kidnapped from her home in Kfar Aza and has been in the hands of Hamas ever since. Steinbrecher also has Romanian citizenship. The 31-year-old veterinary nurse left a voicemail for her parents on the day of the unprecedented attack, who described their daughter as loving and self-sacrificing. “They are here, they have me,” said the young woman inside.

It was the last sign of life that Doron’s family received – until Hamas released a video in January 2024 in which the 31-year-old can be seen with two other hostages – emaciated and pale. “My life stopped on October 7th,” her mother Simona Steinbrecher said in July. “I know she’s alone there and I can’t help her.”

Hamas was expected to hand over the three hostages to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which would then take them to a special army unit in the Gaza Strip. From there, the women will be taken to an army facility in Israel near the Gaza border for an initial examination and finally to a clinic. They should then meet their families in the hospital.

The Israeli cabinet approved the agreement with the Islamist Palestinian organization on Saturday night. The agreement after 15 months of war was announced on Wednesday evening. This means that there will be a ceasefire for the first time since November 2023, under which the hostages remaining in the hands of Hamas are to be released.

The agreement, which was negotiated over months of tough negotiations with the help of mediators Qatar, Egypt and the USA, stipulates that a total of 33 hostages should be released within 42 days in the first phase of the agreement. According to Egyptian information, Palestinians imprisoned in Israel in 1890 will be released from prison in exchange for the hostages. On Friday, Israel announced the number of 737 Palestinian prisoners.