Three women held in Hamas captivity for more than 15 months were freed on Sunday after the implementation of a cease-fire agreed to by Israel and Hamas, which was delayed several hours due to Hamas’ failure to provide the names of the first group set to be released.
A cease-fire slated to begin on Sunday at 8:30 a.m. local time was delayed after Hamas did not provide to mediators the names of those slated for release 24 hours before the exchange was set to occur. The cease-fire went into effect at 11:15 a.m.
Doron Steinbrecher, Emily Damari and Romi Gonen were kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on the morning of Oct. 7, 2023. Damari, a U.K. citizen, and Steinbrecher were taken hostage from their homes in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, while Gonen was taken from the Nova music festival. In January, Hamas released a hostage video in which Steinbrecher appeared with two other female hostages. The terror group did not provide signs of life of Damari and Gonen for the entirety of their captivity.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar called the 18-hour delay “another example of the kind of enemy we are dealing with…They began violating the agreement before it even went into effect. That was also the case in the previous cease-fire agreement, which Hamas repeatedly violated. They continue to torture the hostages and their families.”
Earlier Sunday, Israel announced that the body of slain soldier Oren Shaul, who was killed in the 2014 Operation Protective Edge, was recently retrieved from Gaza in a special operation. Shaul, along with Hadar Goldin, was killed in a firefight with Hamas fighters. Goldin’s body remains in Gaza.
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir announced his resignation from the government on Sunday morning over the cease-fire and hostage-release deal. Ben-Gvir, along with Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and eight other ministers, voted on Friday against approving the deal. Smotrich plans to remain in the government.
Ben-Gvir and Smotrich opposed the deal because they said Hamas has not yet been fully defeated in Gaza and is continuing to govern the enclave — Hamas police officers were active in northern Gaza on Sunday morning — and because of concerns over the terrorists slated to be released in exchange for the hostages.
Sa’ar acknowledged the “heavy price” of the deal in a press briefing soon after the cease-fire took effect, but said Israel is taking the risks “because of our commitment to our brothers and sisters who are under captivity for over 15 months already, and we will do our utmost to release them.”
The foreign minister said the cease-fire is temporary at this point, and war will not end without Israel achieving its aims, whether through negotiations for the next two phases of the cease-fire, set to begin in 15 days, or through resuming military action in Gaza.
“I want to make it clear that Israel is committed to achieving all the objectives of the war that the security cabinet determined, which includes the return of all our hostages, dismantling of Hamas’ government and military capabilities, and to make sure the Gaza Strip will not be a threat to the State of Israel and its citizens, he said.
While Israel said it vetoed the release of well-known terrorists, some of those on the list to be released are behind the most deadly and infamous attacks of the Second Intifada. Ahmad Barghouti was sentenced to 13 life sentences for leading the cell behind multiple attacks killing 12 Israelis, including the suicide bombing at the Seafood Market restaurant in Tel Aviv. Wael Qassem, Wassam Abbasi and Mohammed Odeh were members of the cell behind the bombings at Cafe Moment in Jerusalem, killing 11, Spaghettim Club in Rishon LeZion, killing 15, and the Frank Sinatra Cafeteria at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, killing nine. Abdullah Sharabat, Mandi Zaatari and Samer Alatrash were members of the cell that bombed three Jerusalem buses in 2003, killing 30 Israelis, including seven children.
Some notorious terrorists are not serving life sentences and therefore will be released to the West Bank rather than be deported. Zakaria Zubeidi, who escaped prison in 2021, was the commander of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades in Jenin responsible for a series of attacks including one on the Likud headquarters in Beit Shean, which killed six Israelis. Mahmoud Atallah, who sexually assaulted six Israeli female prison guards, will also be released.
