Three hostages released after 471 days

On Sunday afternoon, shortly before 4:00 p.m. Swedish time, three Israelis were released after 471 days in captivity by the Hamas terror group. Those freed are Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher.

Emily Damari, Romi Gomen and Doron Steinbrecher were released by the Hamas terror group.

The three women were first handed over to the Red Cross and then transported back to Israel by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and then reunited with their families, according to Israeli media.
IDF special forces escorted the three to a facility near the border for an initial check.
Romi Gonen (now 24) tried to escape the Hamas terror attack on the Supernova concert and spoke to her mother, Meirav Gonen, all morning after the terrorists attacked the outdoor event. She told her mother at 10:15 a.m. that they had been shot and that she was bleeding. “They shot me, mom, and I’m bleeding,” Romi told her mother, according to The Times of Israel.
Emily Damari, now 28, was in her apartment in Kibbutz Kfar Azai – a few kilometers from the Gaza border when she was abducted in September 2023. Doron, a 31-year-old Romanian-Israeli veterinary nurse, was also kidnapped from her home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza.

All of Israel was on edge ahead of the first phase of the hostage deal that had been negotiated prior to Sunday and which meant that a number of hostages would be released in exchange for, among others, terrorists with blood on their hands.
Relatives of the hostages were anxious about the announcement of who would be included in the first phase and the deal aroused very strong emotions in Israel.
On Friday, the Israeli government notified the families of the 33 hostages expected to be released in the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement.
Israelis who lost loved ones in terrorist attacks perpetrated by the Palestinians who are now to be released were also informed.
Israel will release up to 1,904 Palestinians in the first phase of the hostage deal, including several terrorists and murderers. Israeli media reports claimed that Zakaria Zubeidi, who was behind a 2002 terror attack in Beit She’an in northern Israel that killed six people, and Khalil Yusef Ali Jabarin, who stabbed Israeli Ari Fuld to death in September 2018, are among those to be released.

On Saturday Israel’s Supreme Court rejected a request by an organization representing terror victims that the hostage deal should not include Palestinian prisoners who murdered the victims’ loved ones.
Many in Israel remember the time when Israel released Yahya Sinwar along with 1,000 other Palestinians in a 2011 prisoner swap for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Yahya Sinwar, who has been dubbed the “Butcher of Khan Yunis,” became the terrorist group’s top leader in Gaza in 2017 and was the mastermind behind the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre.
Palestinian media outlets have shown images and videos from Gaza portraying the deal as a Hamas victory. They also show civilians celebrating alongside gunmen.