Gaza ceasefire begins with three Israeli hostages set to be freed

Hamas has released the names of three female Israeli hostages set for release on Sunday. Israel has confirmed it received the list but has not publicly named them.

The hostages are Romi Gonen (24), Doron Steinbrecher (31) and dual UK-Israeli citizen Emily Damari (28).

Gonen was 23 when she was kidnapped from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023. Her family said she was shot in the hand during the attack. According to her mother, Meirav Leshem Gonen, some hostages who were held alongside Gonen and later released reported that her injuries worsened while in captivity. Israeli media has cited her family as confirming that she is on the list.

Steinbrecher, a veterinary nurse, was 30 when she was kidnapped from her apartment in kibbutz Kfar Aza, near the Gaza border. A video showing her alongside two other kidnapped women was released by Hamas in January last year. Her family raised concerns about her health after seeing the footage, with Doron’s brother Dor Steinbrecher telling CNN that she needed daily medication that she was unlikely to be getting while in captivity.

Damari was kidnapped from her home in Kfar Aza when she was 27. Her mother, Mandy Damari, previously said that her daughter was “shot in the hand, injured by shrapnel in her leg, blindfolded, bundled into the back of her own car,” and driven to Gaza. She is the only remaining British citizen held in Gaza.

On October 7, 2023, 251 people were abducted from Israel by Hamas-led militants. The militants continue to hold 94 hostages. Of those, 34 are thought to be dead (although the actual number is expected to be higher). Eighty-one are male and 13 are female; two are aged five or under. (CNN)

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