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Families of hostages wait for news after three freed on first day of ceasefire
20/01/2025
Families of remaining Israeli hostages are waiting for news on their loved ones after three women were reunited with relatives following their release by Hamas on the first day of a ceasefire deal.
British Israeli Emily Damari, who was held in captivity for more than 15 months in what was described as “ongoing torture” for her family, was among those freed on Sunday – hugging loved ones in tearful reunions once she made it to Israel.
Her mother Mandy Damari, who grew up in Beckenham, south-east London, thanked all those who “never stopped fighting for Emily throughout this horrendous ordeal”, posting a photo on social media of her and her daughter video-calling loved ones, with the caption: “Emily is home.”
Two other hostages, Romi Gonen, 24, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, were also freed on Sunday and the trio are now in Israel.
According to the Daily Mail, Doron’s mother Simona, 63, is Mandy Damari’s best friend.
Kfar Aza resident, neighbour and best friend to Ms Damari, Guy Yakobi, 29, told the Mail that it is a “blessing” that she and Ms Steinbrecher were released together.
“It would have been agonising for one to come out and not another, so this is really special for them. They are really fabulous women who have been so strong,” he said.
Mr Yakobi also told of the moment he found out his best friend would be one of the first women freed.
“I was walking my dog in the park when I saw the names and I was just screaming my throat out,” he said.
“I was crying and shouting, ‘Yes! Thank God!’ Everyone was staring at me and I was just shouting at them, ‘My best friend is coming back from Gaza!’”
Hostages released in November described Ms Damari as a leader who kept the spirits up of her fellow captives.
The Daily Telegraph reports that she “started taking care of everyone”, with one freed girl telling Mrs Damari that her daughter would wake up and sing: “It’s a great morning.”
Others have reported Ms Damari acted as a go-between with the guards.
According to the Mail, Ms Gonen told Mrs Damari last night: “You don’t understand what your daughter has meant to me all this time.”
All three women were assessed at Sheba Medical Centre in Tel Aviv, with doctors reporting that the women are in stable condition and will be monitored for a few days.
Professor Itai Pessach told a press conference in the Israeli city: “That allows us and them to focus on what is the most important thing for now (which) is reuniting with the families.”
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer welcomed the “wonderful and long-overdue news” of their release and called for all hostages to be freed, saying “we must not forget” those who remain in captivity.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy made similar remarks, saying “our thoughts are with” British-linked hostages Eli Sharabi, Oded Lifshitz and Avinatan Or.
Mr Sharabi is on the list of 33 hostages expected to be released in the opening phase of the ceasefire deal.
His brother-in-law, Stephen Brisley, who lives in south Wales, told the PA news agency: “I’m only cautiously optimistic about the deal because I’m not convinced that it will run the whole six weeks.
“I thought I would perhaps feel more excited and elated than I actually am, but I think it’s because I’m tempering that with a dose of the realism that has been drummed into us with events over the last year and just sort of hoping.
“It’s one of those times that I wished I was a religious man so that I could pray but I’m not so all I can do is just hope and cross my fingers.”
Mr Brisley, who does not even know whether his brother-in-law is alive, described the prospect of waiting to hear news as “an exquisite torture”.
London-based film-maker Sharone Lifschitz, whose father Oded remains a hostage, said “we can start healing” once all the hostages are freed.
She knows he was alive in Gaza in late October 2023 but has heard no news of him since.
“He was frail and he was shot in the hand,” she told BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg. “His chances are not great but we will know (soon).”
Ms Damari’s mother Mandy campaigned fiercely for her daughter’s freedom and in the wake of it called for all Israeli hostages to be released.
She said in a statement on Sunday afternoon: “After 471 days Emily is finally home.
“I want to thank everyone who never stopped fighting for Emily throughout this horrendous ordeal, and who never stopped saying her name. In Israel, Britain, the United States, and around the world. Thank you for bringing Emily home.
“While Emily’s nightmare in Gaza is over, for too many other families the impossible wait continues. Every last hostage must be released, and humanitarian aid must be provided to the hostages who are still waiting to come home.
“We ask that the media please respect Emily’s and our family’s privacy during this time.”
The UK Government called for the ceasefire deal to be “implemented in full” after delays early on Sunday morning spoke to its fragility.
The Prime Minister said: “The release of three hostages today is wonderful and long-overdue news after months of agony for them and their families.
“However, today also represents another day of suffering for those who haven’t made it home yet – so while this ceasefire deal should be welcomed, we must not forget about those who remain in captivity under Hamas.
“We must now see the remaining phases of the ceasefire deal implemented in full and on schedule, including the release of those remaining hostages and a surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
“The UK stands ready to do everything it can to support a permanent and peaceful solution.”
Mr Lammy said: “We are clear the deal must be implemented in full; all hostages be returned and aid be allowed to flow into Gaza now.
“This ceasefire must lead to a credible pathway towards a two-state solution in which Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side in peace.”
Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel warned of a “long and challenging” path to resolution.
In a statement posted on social media, she said: “The ceasefire remains fragile and there is a long and challenging road ahead.
“None of the hostages nor their families ever deserved to be put through this nightmare.
“Every single hostage must be returned safely home and reunited with family and friends after 15 months of cruel captivity at the hands of Hamas.”
Israel started releasing 90 Palestinian prisoners, all women or children, on Sunday evening as part of the ceasefire deal.
Hundreds of trucks carrying humanitarian aid arrived in Gaza on Sunday, Tom Fletcher, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, said.
“More than 630 trucks with humanitarian aid entered Gaza today, with at least 300 of them going to the north. There is no time to lose,” he posted on the social media site X.
Published: by Radio NewsHub