The former hostages said that they were only told on Saturday that they were set to be released from Gaza the following day.
I thought I’d die in Gaza,” one of the hostages was quoted by Channel 12 as saying.
Other former hostages who were released in a weeklong truce in November 2023 said they underwent surgery without anesthesia.
Hamas has so far released three hostages during a ceasefire that began in January.
The terror group released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November 2023, and four hostages were released before that.
Hebrew media reported on Monday that three Israeli women who were freed on the first day of a ceasefire agreement with Hamas terrorists in Gaza have started to talk about their ordeal after being held captive by the group for 471 days.
In the middle of what seemed to be a tumultuous crowd of mostly young men, many of whom were wearing masked Hamas uniforms, masked Hamas gunmen in Gaza City on Sunday afternoon turned over Romi Gonen, 24, Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31 to the Red Cross.
Channel 12 news reported that one of the women said, “We were scared to death at the transfer point, from the combination of the armed terrorists and the Gazan crowd,” in remarks that the Israeli military censor had given the go-ahead for.
The former hostages claimed that the news that they would be freed from Gaza the next day was only announced to them on Saturday.
The three were the first hostages to be released in the first phase of the three-phase agreement, which calls for the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of 33 captives over 42 days.
On October 7, 2023, Gonen was abducted from the Supernova rave near Kibbutz Re’im. Thousands of terrorists led by Hamas crossed the border into Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, the majority of whom were civilians. Both Damari and Steinbrecher were abducted during the terror rampage from their residences in the neighboring Kibbutz Kfar Aza.
According to Channel 12, the women claimed that they were not kept in isolation during their captivity and that they were relocated to different locations in Gaza, including the area known as the “humanitarian zone” in the southern part of the Strip.
Some of the hostages claimed that they had spent the majority of their time in captivity underground and had scarcely seen the light of day in the previous 15 months.
They claimed that they occasionally heard and saw news on radio and television, including demonstrations demanding that the government secure the release of the hostages being held in Gaza.
It was reported that the former hostages said, “We witnessed your struggle.”. Our families were heard defending us. “”.
Along with knowing that their families had survived, despite the fact that many of their friends had been killed in the assault, they were also reported to have pieced together the specifics of the horrific Hamas attack that precipitated the war.
“I didn’t anticipate returning. Channel 12 cited one of the hostages as saying, “I thought I’d die in Gaza.”.
One of the women had a medical procedure without anesthesia while in captivity, the report continued, even though the women occasionally received the medications they needed.
When Damari and Gonen were abducted, they were both shot during the terror attack. Damari’s injury caused her to lose two fingers.
A week-long truce in November 2023 freed other former hostages, who claimed to have had surgery without anesthesia.
At the Sheba Medical Center, where the three freed hostages were airlifted on Sunday night, their parents and siblings also held a press conference Monday, stating that all three were doing well. For their help in bringing their loved ones home, they also thanked the Israeli people, US President Donald Trump, the government, and the negotiators.
“Doron is here, grinning, and we are beginning to attend to her recovery. She is fine. She is courageous and strong,” Steinbrecher’s sister Yamit Ashkenazi said.
She went on to say that her sister was surrounded by friends, family, and the entire country of Israel. She especially thanked their Kfar Aza community for their continued support.
Together with her two young children, who were three and six years old at the time, Ashkenazi survived the Hamas massacre by spending 21 hours in their sealed room without food or water until one in the morning. m. tomorrow.
In addition, Ashkenazi shared a message from her sister urging Israelis to continue organizing and demanding the release of all hostages.
According to Ashkenazi, her sister said, “Just because I came home doesn’t mean the others don’t have to come home.”. Explore the streets. We must finish the transaction in its entirety. “”.
Emily’s brother, Tom Damari, thanked Israel Defense Forces soldiers and reservists who fought Hamas in Gaza and those who lost their lives in combat “so that we could hug Emily again.”. “.”.
Additionally, he expressed gratitude to God, Emily’s friends and family, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, government hostage envoy Gal Hirsch, and the government. He concluded by saying, “Am Yisrael Chai” (the nation of Israel lives).
Mandy Damari, his British-born mother, told reporters in English that Emily is “an amazing, strong, and resilient young woman” and that her daughter was in a good mood. “”.
Along with Trump and other international leaders and negotiators, she also thanked former US President Joe Biden and the British government for its continued support.
“Everyone who has messaged our family over the past 24 hours—thousands of you—has contributed. From the bottom of our hearts, we are grateful,” she said.
Meirav Leshem Gonen, who has been a prominent figure in the fight for the hostages’ release over the last 15 months, was the last speaker. She mentioned her daughter’s friends who were killed on October 7, 2023, at the Nova desert rave.
She addressed the families of the deceased, IDF soldiers and their families, and those injured in the ongoing violence, expressing her desire to support them all. She also thanked Israeli and international leaders for their assistance in establishing the ceasefire.
“We are the nation of Israel, a unique nation that seeks peace,” she declared. There are ninety-four more of our kin in Gaza; we are brave and strong, and we will bring them home. Let’s win by holding hands. “”.
Although the terror group’s prisoners’ office had previously claimed that the next hostage release under the fledgling ceasefire agreement would occur on Saturday, January 25, as originally planned, Hamas confirmed in an official statement on Monday.
On Saturday, four hostages are scheduled to be freed. A final group of 14 hostages will be freed on day 42 of the ceasefire, with three being released every Saturday for the next four weeks.
With the bodies of at least 34 hostages confirmed dead by the IDF, 91 of the 251 hostages kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 are thought to still be in Gaza.
Since the start of the ceasefire in January, Hamas has released three hostages. During a week-long truce in late November 2023, the terror group freed 105 civilians; four hostages had already been freed.
Forty hostages have been recovered, including three who were mistakenly killed by the military while attempting to flee their captors, and eight hostages have been rescued alive by troops.
In addition, the body of an IDF soldier killed in 2014 and two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015 are being held by Hamas.
