The three women hostages to be freed from Gaza

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

Romi Gonen, from northern Israel, was among dozens captured when Hamas fighters ambushed the Supernova rave festival and killed 364 people on October 7, 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

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

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.”

On the other hand, fighting in the Gaza Strip halted on Sunday as a ceasefire deal between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas took effect after a brief delay, pausing a 15-month-old war that has brought devastation and seismic political change to the Middle East.

Residents and a medical worker in Gaza said they had heard no new fighting or military strikes since about half an hour before it was finally implemented.

Israeli airstrikes, artillery and tank attacks continued in northern Gaza after the initial deadline of 0630 GMT, Gaza-based paramedics said, killing at least 13 Palestinians and wounding dozens more before the ceasefire actually took effect at 0915 GMT. Israel’s military said it had carried out air and artillery strikes against “terror targets”.

Israel blamed Hamas for the delay after the Palestinian militant group failed to provide a list naming the first three hostages it would release later on Sunday as part of the agreement.