Last British hostage released after 470 days as part of Gaza ceasefire agreement

A British-Israeli woman is among the first three hostages to have been handed over to Israeli forces by as part of a ceasefire deal in Gaza.
Emily Damari, 28, Doron Steinbreche, 31, and Romi Gonen, 24, are now in the hands of the Israeli Defence Forces and en route to Israel, after Hamas miltants delivered them to the International Red Cross.
Crowds cheered in Tel Aviv as the IDF confirmed that the women, who have spent 15 months in besieged Gaza, are now free.
The three have made it to the Israeli-Gaza border where they are expected to be reunited with their mothers before being taken to a hospital with a helicopter, away from the public.
The force said in a statement: ‘According to information received from the Red Cross, three Israeli hostages were transferred to the Red Cross and they are on their way toward IDF and ISA forces in Gaza.’
Emily, who has a dual British-Israeli citizenship, was kidnapped from her home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, near the Gaza Strip, on October 7, 2023, when Hamas massacred 1,200 people.

Hamas militants hand over hostages kidnapped during the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel (Picture: Reuters)
![Emily Damari / Mandy Damari, 63, today revealed the ?nightmare? of life after her 28-year-old British daughter Emily was kidnapped almost a year ago from Kibbutz Kfar Aza. Speaking at the official anniversary event commemorating the October 7 massacre in Hyde Park, London, in front of a huge crowd she said: ?It is breaking my heart a little more, day by day. ?Soon there will be nothing left of my heart - or Emily.? Mandy, a nursery school teacher born in Surrey, England has spent the past year travelling around the world meeting officials and lobbying for Emily?s release. Earlier this week [Monday 30th September] she travelled to Downing Street to demand that the UK Government do everything in their power to free the last British hostage still in Gaza. She handed the Prime Minister a note for Emily and asked him to do everything in his power to get the note to her. (note attached) Today [October 6 2024] she stepped up her desperate campaign by giving her first public statement since her daughter was kidnapped. ( speech attached) She said: ?Diplomatic pressure, negotiations, humanitarian efforts?whatever it takes. ?We cannot let another day pass. ?We cannot afford to lose any more lives to this nightmare. We don’t need tea and sympathy, we need actions not words.? Emily Damari - a Tottenham Hotspurs fan - has been held by Hamas terrorists for exactly 364 days. She was kidnapped in her own car and taken from her home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza near the Gaza border During the attack her dog, a golden cockapoo, Choocha, was shot dead by terrorists and Emily was shot in the hand. Emily is currently being held in a Hamas terror tunnel. Emily Cohen ? 07887788933 / emily@sunuva.com or Gail Davidson ? 07957400558 / gail@gaildavidsonpr.co.uk (please no press requests for interviews, cannot be granted at this time)](/upload/newsout/179000/179854_2.jpg)
British citizen Emily Damari, 28, was kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Aza

Emily with her mother Mandy, a nursery school teacher from Surrey (Picture: Family handout/PA Wire)
She was shot in the hand, injured by shrapnel in her leg, and saw her dog Choocha killed before she was blindfolded and bundled into a car that took her to Gaza.
Doron was also taken from Kfar Aza, while Romi was captured while trying to flee Nova music festival.
After a delay of several hours, the three have been handed over to the Red Cross in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned for years in ‘torture camps’ in Israel, without any judicial process.
Little has been heard from the captives since their capture. With a third of the 100 remaining hostages believed to be dead, the lawyer of the Damari, Adam Rose, had told them to ‘prepare for the worst’.
In a later statement, Rose said: ‘We are delighted that our client, Emily, has finally been released, after over 15 months of captivity by Hamas terrorists. We cannot wait to meet her.
❤️????️
— Israel ישראל (@Israel) January 19, 2025
We are waiting for each and every one of you. pic.twitter.com/hys5TbvqU8
‘We are thankful to everyone who has played parts in campaigning for her release, including the British government who have provided support over the past 15 months.
‘We request now that the family is allowed some peace and space.
‘We continue to call for the speedy return of the other four hostages with strong British connections and for whom we act, Eli Sharabi, Yossi Sharabi (deceased), Oded Lifshitz and Avinatan Or, and of all of the other hostages.’
The swap was supposed to kick off a 42-day ceasefire from 8.30am local time after 15 months of war destroyed much of Gaza and left 66,000 Palestinians dead. It started instead at 11.15am local time.
Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had promised to continue fighting until Hamas handed over their names, and those of 30 others due to be released in the coming weeks.

Romi Gonen, 24, was on the phone with her mother as she attempted to flee Nova music festival when she was kidnapped (Picture: Gonen Family/Handout via Reuters)

Veterinary nurse Doron Steinbreche, 31, was alone in her flat when she was taken hostage
Nearly two hours after the ceasefire was due to start at 8.30am, Israel confirmed it had received the list of hostages.
By then, around 13 people had been killed and 30 were injured in Israeli bombings.
Hamas blamed the delay on ‘technical field reasons’ and said it was sticking to the ceasefire agreed this week.
The youngest on the list is Kfir Bibas, aged nine months, while the oldest is Shlomo Mantzur, 86.
They had been kidnapped on October 7, 2023, when Hamas and its allies massacred 1,200 people and took 250 hostages. Roughly 94 remain in Gaza, although a third are believed to be dead.

Palestinians gather around a Red Cross vehicle before the release of hostages kidnapped during the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel (Picture: Reuters)
Sunday morning was supposed to be a reprieve after 15 months of Israeli bombardments.
Palestinians flooded the streets to celebrate after a deal to pause all the violence was agreed by Israel and Hamas on Friday.
Even last night, people had started to return to homes and rebuilding all that has been destroyed by Israel’s bombs.
But the ceasefire in Gaza was cast into doubt after Israel said it would keep on fighting until Hamas hands over a list of hostages to be released.
The agreement had reportedly been on the table since December 2023, prompting Qatar’s prime minister, who mediated the deal, to describe it as ’13-months of a waste of negotiating the details that has no meaning and is not worth a single life that we lost in Gaza or a single life of the hostages lost because of the bombing’.

Displaced Palestinians returning to their homes, many of which have been destroyed (Picture: Dawoud Abu Alkas/Reuters)

Aid workers celebrate the ceasefire, which will allow around 600 trucks delivering humanitarian supplies into Gaza each day (Picture: Hamza Z. H. Qraiqea/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Celebrations started before the ceasefire came into effect (Picture: Mohammed Salem/Reuters)
Pushing through the ceasefire has come at a political cost for Netanyahu, who has lost the support of some far-right members of his coalition.
National security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir quit along with two other ministers from his nationalist-religious party on Sunday morning.
In a statement, they said: ‘The reckless approval of an agreement with the Hamas terror organization, which includes releasing hundreds of murderers with the blood of men, women, and children on their hands—some to Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria—represents a disgraceful surrender.’
They added: ‘We will not return to the government table without a complete victory against Hamas and the full realization of the war’s goals.’
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