Hamas is expected to release three hostages, in captivity since October 7, 2023 – 471 days – as part of a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group that has paused the war. As part of the ceasefire deal, Hamas will release Romi Gonen (24), Emily Damari (28) and Doron Steinbrecher (31). As the ceasefire begins on Sunday, a gradual release of dozens of captives on both sides has been agreed on.
Israel attacked Gaza after hundreds of Hamas soldiers broke through the border fence of the kibbutz, paraglided into the Israeli territory and ransacked the Israeli neighbourhood. Hundreds were killed and many were kidnapped as Isareli authorities huddled to get a grip of the situation.
Some 250 people were kidnapped during Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack that triggered 15 months of war. Around 100 hostages still remain in Gaza, after the rest were released or their bodies recovered.
Romi Gonen is a 24-year-old woman who was kidnapped from the Nova music festival in southern Israel on October 7, 2023. When the Hamas militants were ransacking the festival grounds, Romi Gonen's mother spoke to Roni for five hours. In her last call with her family, Romi told her family that she was wounded. She said she would hide in bushes as roads were jammed with abandoned cars.
“Mommy I was shot, the car was shot, everybody was shot. ... I am wounded and bleeding. Mommy, I think I'm going to die,” Romi Gonen's mother recounted her as saying. The came a shriek, “Mommy!” amid a gunfire.
Doron Steinbrecher is a veterinary nurse. On the day of the October 7 attacks, Doron Steinbrecher called her mother as she hid under the bed. In her last call to her mother, Doron Steinbrecher said the Hamas militants were trying to get into the apartment.
"Mom, I'm scared. I'm hiding under the bed and I hear them trying to enter my apartment,” her brother recalled. “They've got me! They've got me! They've got me!” Also Read | Israel-Hamas ceasefire set to begin today. Will Gaza war end now? What we know so far
On January 26, 2024, Hamas released a video featuring Steinbrecher alongside two other female Israeli soldiers.
A British-Israeli citizen, Emily Damari was kidnapped from her apartment in the Israeli neighbourhood that was raided by the Hamas militants.
In her last msg to her family, Emily Damari said that Hamas was shooting in her neighbourhood.
“Injured by shrapnel in her leg, blindfolded, bundled into the back of her own car, and driven back to Gaza,” her mother Mandy Damari recalled.
“She’s suffering from gunshot wounds to her hand and her leg … I worry every day, I worry every second because in the next second, she could be murdered, just because she’s there. I hold on to that sliver of hope that I still keep in my heart that she is surviving, in spite of her suffering. I am desperate, angry, and terrified for her life,” Mandy Damari said.
(With inputs from PTI)
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