Three Israeli hostages were reunited with their families after being released by the Hamas terrorist group on Jan. 19, as the nation looked ahead to further releases.
Israeli hostages Romi Gonen, 24, Doron Steinbrecher, 31, and British-Israeli hostage Emily Damari, 28, were released after 471 days of captivity in Gaza. Damari is missing two fingers after being wounded in Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Officials at Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv, which received them, said all three were in stable condition.
“Love, love, love,” Damari wrote in an Instagram story shared online on the morning of Jan. 20, thanking her friends and family for their support. “I have returned to my beloved life.”
Meanwhile, 90 Palestinian prisoners were freed by Israel in exchange early on Jan. 20. Nearly 2,000 are scheduled to be released in the next six weeks. The deal also includes a cease-fire and pull-back of Israeli troops.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement on Jan. 18, hours before the first release, that one of his fundamental principles during the negotiation process was to raise the number of living hostages released during the first phase of the deal.
“I am pleased to tell you that this insistence has borne fruit. Contrary to Hamas’s position in May, we have almost doubled the number of living hostages that are due to be released in the first stage,” he said.
Still being held are three Israeli-Americans. Two—Keith Siegel, 66, of Kibbutz Kfar Aza, and Segui Dekel-Chen, 36, of Kibbutz Nir Oz—are believed to be alive and included in the list of 33 to be released in the first 42 days—phase one—of the cease-fire deal: Siegel because of his age and Dekel-Chen because he is believed to have been wounded on Oct. 7.
One, Edan Alexander, 20, was on active duty with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and was not eligible for release in the first batch of the hostages to be released. Alexander, whose parents are Israeli, was born in Israel, graduated from high school in the United States, and enlisted in the IDF.
Also on the list are two children, Ariel and Kfir Bibas. Their photos, particularly of the smiling red-headed baby Kfir, became iconic for the hostage-release movement. If they are still alive, Ariel is five, and Kfir is two.
Their mother, Shiri Silberman Bibas, 33, and father, Yarden Bibas, 35, are also on the list. The status of the family, kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz, is unclear. Hamas claimed in November 2023 that they were dead but they have similar claims about other hostages that proved to be false.
Others have their eyes on the hostage release process. France will keep fighting to obtain the release of the two French-Israeli nationals held by Hamas, its foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Jan. 20. French-Israeli nationals Ofer Kalderon and Ohad Yahalomi are also part of the group of 33.
Damari, Gonen, and Steinbrecher were released in a chaotic scene in Gaza City on the evening of Jan. 19, with masked Hamas gunmen handing them to the Red Cross amid a large, rowdy crowd of mainly young men.
The terrorists mocked their captives upon their release by handing them, in a photo op seemingly for propaganda purposes, “gift bags” containing photos of their captivity, certificates, and “Palestine” lanyards. The bags were decorated with the logo of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing. They also were given folders containing information. Damari’s contained her hometown, Israeli ID number, and where she was “arrested.”
A Nation Being Tested
Not everyone in Israel supports the deal. Itamar Ben-Gvir, Netanyahu’s hard-line national security minister, resigned the post and pulled his party out of Netanyahu’s governing coalition in protest. He said he'd consider rejoining if the government resumes the war against Hamas after the first phase of the agreement “to achieve decisive victory and fulfill the war’s objectives.”His frequent ally, Treasury Minister Bezalel Smotrich, chose to remain in the government.
“I have a national responsibility to win and secure, and I’m ready to pay a price for it,” he said.
“The supreme goal was and remains a complete victory over Hamas in Gaza.”
Many Israelis have misgivings about the number and identity of the Palestinians being released in the exchange.
A majority of Palestinians to be released during the first phase are Gazans detained during the IDF’s ground offensive in Gaza who did not participate in the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, invasion and massacre in southern Israel. However, among them are 737 security prisoners, some of whom are members of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, or Fatah and serving life sentences for murder and terror attacks.
Israelis remember that 1,027 terrorists and prisoners were exchanged for a single Israeli soldier held hostage, Gilad Shalit, in 2011. One of those released was Yahya Sinwar, who became military leader of Hamas and architect of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack.
Hillel Fuld, an Israeli tech advocate and prominent blogger, lost his brother Ari in a 2018 terror stabbing in the West Bank, which many Israelis call Judea and Samaria.
Fuld told The Times of Israel that the release of his brother’s murderer “brings it back.” “It’s definitely an open wound,” he said.
