Jerusalem After being held captive in the Gaza Strip for 15 months, three women—a soccer lover, a dancer, and a veterinary nurse—returned to Israel on Sunday to applause and tears of happiness.
Their relatives, who had pushed for their release both domestically and outside, welcomed them.
Emily Damari
Following her release, 28-year-old former captive Emily Damari wrote on social media, “I’ve returned to my beloved life.”
Damari lost two fingers to a militant’s bullet during the October 7, 2023, Hamas cross-border terrorist incident after being taken from her house in kibbutz Kfar Aza and brought into Gaza in her own vehicle.
Damari holding up a bandaged hand in a picture and a video has already come to symbolize the hostages’ tenacity.
I made it through! According to Israel Defense Forces video, she yelled when the photo was taken.
Dreaming of seeing her daughter at last, her mother, Mandy Damari, who was a kindergarten teacher and immigrant from Britain to Israel, advocated for her daughter’s release.
Mandy Damari talked about her daughter, a soccer enthusiast and supporter of Tottenham Hotspur in London.
In one of her numerous presentations to a Knesset committee, she described her daughter as a strong, intelligent, and gregarious girl whose cheerful humor brightens each space she walks into. Shortly after her daughter returned from Gaza, Emily posted on Instagram on Monday, saying, “I was finally able to give Emily the hug that I have been dreaming of yesterday.”
According to her mother, Emily Damari is doing better than anyone could have predicted.
Mandy Damari commented on Instagram, “I am also happy that the world was given a glimpse of her feisty and charismatic personality during her release.” Emily claims that she is the happiest girl alive since she has regained her life.
Romi Gonen
Early on October 7, extremists invaded the Nova music festival, where the professional modern dancer and choreographer from the northern Israeli town of Kfar Vradim was abducted.
Her mother, Meirav Leshem Gonen, posted on Facebook on Sunday, saying, “It will take me, us, a moment to breathe… and believe in the reality that we have fulfilled together.”
On the morning of the attack, Gonen, 24, had called her parents at 7:15 a.m. to report that she was surrounded by gunshots. She asked what she should do.
After spending hours hiding in a bush, she and another festival-goer got into a car, but as they attempted to leave the area, their vehicle was ambushed, and she was taken hostage.
When the car she and the others were in was hit by gunfire, Gonen had already contacted her parents to let them know she was headed home.
She called her mother, bleeding and terrified that she was going to die.
Meirav Gonen revealed that her daughter was the sole survivor to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva in June.
According to the mother, she was viciously pulled from the automobile along the road by her long, gorgeous hair. During our phone conversation, I heard her frustration and helplessness at not being able to assist my baby, and I witnessed this truth.
When she was initially released, Gonen asked, “Where is my mother?”
She gave her mother a hug before calling her father, Eitan Gonen.
“I returned alive,” Gonen informed him.
Doron Steinbrecher
The 31-year-old veterinary nurse texted her mother, Simona Steinbrecher, as Hamas-led fighters approached her home in southern Israel’s kibbutz Kfar Aza: “They are here,” she wrote.
She later wrote, “They captured me, they captured me, they captured me,” in a terrifying letter to her friends.
A video clip showing Steinbrecher and two other hostages, Daniella Gilboa and Karina Ariev, was made public by Hamas in January of last year. The three begged the Israeli authorities to ensure their freedom.
Her mother, Simona Steinbrecher, recently spoke at the so-called Hostage Square, saying that her daughter, who is the youngest of three children, gives a lot of fun and joy to the home.
The mother claimed that she had hoped the unique link formed during her daughter’s pregnancy would protect her throughout her life. Simona Steinbrecher described it as tragic that despite her daughter being abducted so near to home, she was unable to protect her.
“I would have done anything to switch places with my daughter,” she continued.
Steinbrecher’s family shared a message on Instagram shortly after her release. It said, “At last, our dear Dodo is back in our arms.” We would like to sincerely thank everyone who helped and accompanied us on our adventure.