
First Israeli hostages come home as ceasefire takes effect
Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher appear to be in stable health after spending more than a year in Hamas captivity.
By Yulia Karra | Courtesy Israel21C
After 471 days in Hamas captivity, three female Israeli hostages — Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher — returned to Israel on Sunday evening after a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian terror groups in Gaza went into effect hours earlier.
An additional 30 hostages are expected to be released in the coming weeks as part of the ceasefire deal brokered by Qatar and Egypt. In return, Israel is expected to free nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, hundreds of them jailed for their roles in deadly terror attacks.
On October 7, 2023, Gonen, 24, was abducted into Gaza from the Nova music festival. Damari, 28, and Steinbrecher, 31, were kidnapped from their homes in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, which borders the Palestinian enclave of Gaza.
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