The three female hostages Hamas says it will release first under the ceasefire deal
Share:
A British-Israeli citizen, a Nova festivalgoer and a veterinary nurse are the three women to be freed. A ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip has taken effect, pausing a 15-month war that has brought devastation and political change to the Middle East.
![[Peter Beaumont]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2018/07/16/Peter_Beaumont,_L.png?width=75&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
As part of the deal, three Israeli hostages are due to be released later on Sunday, named by Hamas as Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari. Hamas kidnapped Damari, who has joint British and Israeli citizenship, from her apartment in the Kfar Aza kibbutz on 7 October 2023, along with 37 other residents of the community on the Gaza border. She is the only hostage with British citizenship who is being held.
![[Emily Damari.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/6eadeb1239b1e071866f86e2e800c1be9062e3b0/0_70_1898_1138/master/1898.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Her last message to her family on the day of her kidnapping was at around 10am on 7 October, when she managed to send a text to say Hamas were in her neighbourhood and shooting close to her apartment. According to friends and family, based on witness evidence from the attack, Damari suffered injuries and was abducted while blindfolded in her own car.
![[Romi Gonen.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/d1056117bb8147859a53fc4be0ee046027611223/0_146_1079_647/master/1079.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
She was shot in the hand and “injured by shrapnel in her leg, blindfolded, bundled into the back of her own car, and driven back to Gaza”, her mother, Mandy Damari, later said. In December, Mandy told the BBC: “She’s suffering from gunshot wounds to her hand and her leg … I worry every day, I worry every second because in the next second, she could be murdered, just because she’s there.”.
![[Doron Steinbrecher]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/fd3849161c653022002b9f9b0f8fec2786d0a19e/0_99_400_240/master/400.jpg?width=120&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
