Three Israeli hostages on their way home after release by Hamas

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The three Israeli women released from Hamas captivity on Sunday have been handed over to the Israel Defense Forces by representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross inside the Gaza Strip.

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“The three released hostages are now being escorted by an elite IDF unit and Shin Bet force and are on their way back to Israel, where they will undergo an initial medical evaluation,” the military said.

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“IDF commanders and soldiers salute and embrace the released hostages on their way back to Israel,” the army statement continued. “The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit asks the public to show responsibility and sensitivity and respect the privacy of the returnees and their families.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that the government in Jerusalem “embraces the three released hostages.

“Their families have been informed by the relevant authorities that they have joined our forces. The Israeli government is committed to the return of all the kidnapped and missing,” the Prime Minister’s Office statement continued.

“The government, together with all security agencies, will accompany them and their families. ‘Blessed are You, Lord, who frees the captives,’” the statement from Netanyahu’s office concluded.

Earlier, footage broadcast on Israeli television appeared to show Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari alive and standing on their own, surrounded by Hamas terrorists in Gaza City’s Saraya Square.

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The three were taken by terrorists during the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border massacre and held hostage in the Gaza Strip for 471 days.

The Red Cross handed over the captives to Israeli special forces inside the Netzarim Corridor that splits the northern and southern Strip.

It will be another approximately two hours until the former captives arrive at the hospital in Israel, the IDF estimates. The mothers of the hostages will first meet them at the reception complex near Kibbutz Re’im. The remaining family members will meet them at the hospital.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz was waiting to welcome the hostages at the reception point near the border community of Kibbutz Re’im, his office said earlier on Sunday.

“I came here to make sure that the IDF is prepared to receive and escort the hostages who are returning to Israel today. We will not stop the war until all the hostages return home,” Katz said in the published remarks.

The IDF shared footage on Sunday afternoon of the initial reception point, from where the released hostages are expected to be taken to hospitals, where they will be reunited with their family members.

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After Hamas delivered to Jerusalem the names of the three female hostages set to be released, the ceasefire took effect at 11:15 a.m.

Under the agreement with Hamas, the terrorist group should have provided the names of the hostages at least 24 hours ahead of the release of the three captives expected to be freed on Sunday at 4 p.m.

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Gonen, 24, was abducted from the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im after being shot by Hamas terrorists on the morning of Oct. 7, 2023, while Steinbrecher, 31, and Damari, 28, were taken from their homes in the border community of Kfar Aza. Steinbrecher is a dual Israeli-Romanian citizen, while Damari also holds British citizenship.

Israel’s Health Ministry has formulated a new protocol for receiving and treating the captives due to be released, based on lessons learned from the November 2023 exchange of hostages for Palestinian terrorists.

The protocol has detailed guidelines for medical examinations, mental health care, privacy protection and long-term support for returnees and their families, emphasizing personalized care and respect for dignity.

Israel estimates that 25 of the 33 people on the list of hostages to be returned in the first stage of the renewed ceasefire deal are still alive. Ninety-four hostages abducted during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre are still being held in Gaza, at least one-third of them dead.

The 33 captives are considered “humanitarian” cases — women, children, men over 50, wounded and ill, including two mentally ill Israelis who entered the Strip on their own over a decade ago (Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed).

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