The first freed hostages have returned to Israel
On January 19 at 11:15, a ceasefire agreement came into effect. On the same day, the first freed hostages returned to Israel: 24-year-old Romy Gonen, 28-year-old Emily Damari, and 31-year-old Doron Steinbrecher. All three were captured at the Nova festival.
Red Cross workers delivered them to the IDF “Reim” base, where they met with their families. After that, a helicopter took the freed hostages to the “Sheba” medical center in Ramat Gan for a full examination and treatment. Photographs taken after their release show that Emily Damari is missing two fingers on her left hand.
In Tel Aviv, thousands of people gathered at the Square of the Kidnapped to watch the liberation of the first hostages live.
On Saturday, January 25, the next four hostages will be released. In total, as part of the first phase of the agreement, which is scheduled for six weeks, 33 people are to be released — women, children, the seriously ill, and men over 50 years old. In the second and third phases, it is planned to release another 61 hostages, including young men and IDF soldiers.
According to the terms of the agreement, Israel will release 30 imprisoned terrorists for each civilian hostage, and 50 for each soldier.
