The three women hostages to be freed from Gaza
Three women hostages held by militants in the Gaza Strip for more than 15 months are on Sunday to become the first freed under a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Protesters stand with portraits of Israeli hostages on 24 October 2024, including Emily Tehila Damari (28), during a demonstration by the families of the hostages taken captive in the Gaza Strip by Hamas during the 7 October 2023 attacks. Picture: AFP
JERUSALEM - Three women hostages held by militants in the Gaza Strip for more than 15 months are on Sunday to become the first freed under a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Here are their short profiles:
ROMI GONEN, 24
Romi Gonen, from northern Israel, was among dozens captured when Hamas fighters ambushed the Supernova rave festival and killed 364 people on 7 October 2023.
During the attack, from which she attempted to flee by car, Gonen phoned her mother Merav Leshem Gonen, who tried to comfort her above the din of explosions.
The car was later found empty, and Romi's phone was traced to Gaza.
A talented dancer and choreographer, she suffered hand injuries, according to her mother who said she received the information from freed hostages.
EMILY DAMARI, 28
Damari, whose father is Israeli, was born in Israel after her British mother, Mandy, moved there. She grew up in Kfar Aza, a kibbutz community near Israel's southern border with Gaza.
Damari was at home there when Hamas gunmen stormed her house, injuring her hands and legs in the process.
Her beloved dog Choocha was killed by a gunshot to the neck, according to Damari's mother.
Mandy Damari had said in October that she feared Emily had been forgotten.
DORON STEINBRECHER, 31
The veterinary nurse was also kidnapped from Kfar Aza.
On the day of the attack, Steinbrecher left a message for her parents telling them she had been abducted.
An Israeli-Romanian dual national, she appeared with two other hostages in a video released by Hamas in January, 2024.
"My life stopped on the 7th of October," her mother Simona Steinbrecher said in July. "I know she is alone there, and I cannot help her."