Emotional Reunion as 3 Hostages Are Released in Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Deal
Three Israeli women are now home after 15 months of being kept hostage by Hamas. Doron Steinbrecher, 31, Emily Damari, 28, and Romi Gonen, 24, were reunited with their families in an emotional reunion Sunday afternoon.
"We hugged her. We cried. We were moved. We shouted and screamed. Seeing her standing like this was the most exciting thing in the world - and fun," Damari's friend, Gal Kubani, said, CBN News reported.
Freed Israeli hostages embrace their families during emotional reunion https://t.co/q5QgFJ2x2H pic.twitter.com/rg6bcUrVrt
— New York Post (@nypost) January 19, 2025
Damari's mother, Mandy Damari, said that her daughter is in "high spirits and on the road to recovery. As you would have seen last night, she's an amazingly strong and resilient young woman."
The exchange of the hostages was captured on video when Hamas handed over the prisoners to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Gaza City. All three women were initially taken captive in Hamas' attack against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing at least 1,200 people and taking 251 others, mostly civilians, hostage.
The moment Hamas released the first Israeli hostages. pic.twitter.com/FiUOxN2Dx5
— BRICS News (@BRICSinfo) January 19, 2025
At the time, Gonen was kidnapped from the Supernova rave near Kibbutz Re'im, while Damari and Steinbrecher were both kidnapped from their homes at nearby Kibbutz Kfar Aza.
The release comes as part of a 3-phase ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas made last week where hostages will be released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Hamas official Taher al-Nunu told AFP on Tuesday four more female hostages will be released this Saturday, The Jerusalem Post reported.
On Monday, President Donald Trump met with some of the families of the hostages as well as one former hostage during his inauguration event at the Capitol One Arena in Washington, D.C.
According to Independent, the family members of the hostages, whose appearance was announced by Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, lined up wearing yellow scarves and held photos of their family members kidnapped by Hamas.
Noa Argamani, who was kidnapped during the Oct. 7th attack, was released last June and was in attendance Monday night.
Witkoff added that some of the families appearing with Trump lost loved children and hostages while others have children still in captivity.
"They're here because they're part of an effort to retrieve their bodies so they can be buried in a proper way," he said.
The family members went on stage and shook hands with Trump. Argamani stood directly behind the president as he spoke.
"So now the work begins. We won! We won! But now the work begins. We have to bring them home," Trump said.
Photo Credit: ©Instagram/Bring Them Home Now
Originally published January 21, 2025.
