The first phase of the ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian armed group Hamas went into effect on the morning of the 19th local time, allowing three Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip to return home after 471 days. The three hostages released on the first day of the ceasefire are all women, having been kidnapped either at a music festival in southern Israel or from a kibbutz (collective farm) also located in southern Israel.
According to major foreign media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), the first individual released on the first day of the ceasefire is Romi Gonen, 24. A dancer and choreographer, Gonen was attending the Nova Music Festival when she was attacked by Hamas. The Hostage and Missing Family Forum noted, "Gonen went to the festival to do what she loves, which is to dance." Gonen studied dance for 12 years and became a choreographer while performing solo. However, she was attacked by Hamas. At that time, Gonen was trying to escape in a car with friends and called her mother, saying, "They are shooting at me." Gonen and her friend then ran frantically between the bushes, but Hamas fired at the vehicle they were escaping in. As a result, her friend was killed, and Gonen sustained a gunshot wound to her arm.
Doron Steinbrecher, 31, a veterinary nurse, was also released this time. Steinbrecher was kidnapped from her home in the Kibbutz Kfar Aza, located about 2 kilometers from the Palestinian border. Numerous kibbutzim along the Israel-Hamas border were subjected to concentrated attacks by Hamas on October 7, 2023. Steinbrecher contacted her family and friends via WhatsApp, saying she was "hiding under the bed" when the attack began. In her last recorded message before losing contact, she screamed, "They have caught me." Steinbrecher holds dual Israeli and Romanian citizenship, and Hamas released a video of him filmed last January.
Emily Damari, 28, born to an Israeli father and a British mother, was also kidnapped along with her boyfriend from a kibbutz. Damari was shot during Hamas's attack and was taken hostage to the Gaza Strip. After her release, Damari was seen with bandages on her hand, missing two fingers. Growing up in England, Damari is a fan of the Premier League football team Tottenham Hotspur, based in London. The WSJ reported, "Damari's family, fans of Tottenham Hotspur, has been trying to urge the British government to support her release."
In return for the release of these three women, Israel is expected to free approximately 90 Palestinian prisoners held in the occupied West Bank. The released prisoners will include 69 women and 21 teenage boys. According to the Associated Press, the list of released individuals includes Khalida Jarrar, 62, a senior official of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) who previously served as a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, and Dalal Qasseb, 53, the sister of Saleh Arouri, who was the third-ranking official in Hamas's political bureau and was killed in an Israeli airstrike last January.
Hamas plans to release a total of 33 Israeli hostages, including the three released today, over the course of a ceasefire that will last 42 days. In return, the Israeli military has agreed to release more than 30 Palestinian prisoners for each hostage.