Posted on 01/19/25
| News Source: Arutz-7
Romi Gonen, Emily Damari, and Doron Steinbrecher are the three hostages who will be released this afternoon after more than 470 days in captivity in Gaza.
Romi Gonen, 24, from Kfar Vradim, was abducted from the Novas music festival. At 10:15 a.m. on October 7, 2024, she told her mother, Merav Leshem-Gonen, on the phone that she had been shot. Her family confirmed earlier today that she will be among the hostages who are released today.
Emily Damari, 28, from Kfar Gaza, is a British citizen. Her mother, Mandy, expressed deep concern in an interview with the BBC last month that her daughter was no longer alive. “I am desperate for a sign of life,” she said.
Doron Steinbracher, 31, from Kfar Aaza, worked as a veterinary nurse when she was kidnapped from her home on October 7. She was among the three hostagess who appeared in a video released by Hamas on January 26.
The hostage release is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. this afternoon.
Hamas was supposed to have provided the names of the three hostages who are to be released today by 8:30 a.m. this morning. However, it only provided the names of the hostages at about 10:00 a.m., an hour and a half after the deadline, delaying the start of the ceasefire by that amount of time.
A small number of hostages will be released every week over the course of the first phase of the ceasefire, which will last six weeks. 33 hostages are expected to be released in total during the first phase, out of 98 hostages who are still being held in Gaza.