Hamas gave macabre “gift bags” to Israeli hostages

On Sunday, Emily Damari, 28, Romi Gonen, 24, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, were handed over to the Red Cross after 471 days as hostages. They were the first of 33 Israeli hostages released by Hamas during the first of three phases of the ceasefire agreement.

The terrorist group Hamas used the handover for a propaganda video. The three women can be seen first. They beam with joy about their imminent release. Hamas had hung lanyards with the words Palestine around their necks. They were then handed a paper bag with the Hamas logo. They had to hold up the bags for the camera. The bags contained “gifts and souvenirs.” They were macabre gift bags containing memories from captivity: photos of them, a souvenir picture of Gaza itself and a kind of certificate, according to the Israeli news portal Ynet.

The women had no choice but to smile and hold up the certificates. Maybe they didn’t care about the production. As their motorcade then drove through the streets of Gaza, they were repeatedly surrounded by angry people, the mob harassed the vehicles and banged on the windows. Some militants even climbed onto the roof of the van in which the hostages were sitting. Cars had to stop in several places because the crowd refused to let them through. Eventually the hostages reached a convoy of Red Cross vehicles. When the door of the vehicle opened, the three women appeared frightened. They hugged the “gift bags” and ran through the hostile crowd to safety. The three women cried with joy as they met their families at the hospital.

One of the hostages, Emily Damari, was injured when she was abducted from her home on October 7. Damari was shot in the hand and shrapnel hit her leg. Emily Damari, Romi Gonen and Doron Steinbrecher are the first hostages released. Another four people are expected to be released within seven days. In the first phase, mainly women, children as well as the sick, wounded and elderly are handed over to Israel. In a second phase, people who belong to the Israeli military will probably also be released. In return, as part of the 1904 agreement, Palestinian prisoners were to be released. The first 90 of them were released on Monday night.