Israelis Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari were handed over to the Red Cross; 33 more hostages will be released
The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) this Sunday (19 January 2025) that Hamas released the first 3 hostages in the Gaza Strip. The measure is part of the 42-day ceasefire agreement that came into force hours before the incident.
Israelis Romi Gonen, 24, Doron Steinbrecher, 31, and a British-Israeli, Emily Damari, 28, were handed over to the Red Cross. The 3 had been detained since the start of the conflict on October 7, 2023.
“They are accompanied by the IDF on their return to Israeli territory, where they will undergo an initial medical assessment”they said on their X (former Twitter) profile.
According to information from CNNa crowd gathered in the Al-Saraya region of Gaza to hand over the hostages. Dozens of militants from the Al Qassam brigades, from Hamas, and Al-Quds, from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, were present.
Also this Sunday (January 19), Israel released the names of 33 hostages that Hamas will release during this 1st phase of the ceasefire.
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We are waiting for each and every one of you.
— Israel Israel (@Israel)
Ceasefire
The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into force at 6:15 am this Sunday (Brasília time) – 11:15 am local time. The extremist group was delayed for 3 hours by not sending the list with the names of the hostages to be released, one of the agreed terms.
The break was scheduled to start at 8:30 am local time (3:30 am in Brasília). With the postponement, the IDF bombed some regions of the Gaza Strip.
At around 6:15 am, the Israeli government confirmed on X (formerly Twitter) that it had received the list of hostages. After the names were given, the ceasefire began.
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