TEL AVIV, ISRAEL (CNN) – An Israeli mother holds her young daughter as she stands in the crowd next to the helipad at Tel Aviv’s Sheba Medical Center. On Sunday, the center accepted three former hostages who were released under the ceasefire and hostage agreement. Along with Hamas.
“I’m so glad you’re home,” read a sign in Hebrew held by her young daughter.
A helicopter that took off from southern Israel near the Gaza border carried Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily, the first of 33 hostages scheduled to be released in the first phase of the deal, which took effect Sunday morning.・Damari was on board.
The three women were abducted during a Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, which left more than 1,200 people dead and more than 250 captured.
Footage shared by the Israeli government shows three women wearing Israeli flags and hugging family members as they arrive at the hospital.
In return, Israel will release 90 Palestinian prisoners of war and detainees, including 69 women and nine minors, the youngest of whom is 15 years old.
A group of Israelis played music and sang patriotic songs near Sheba Hospital on Sunday night. Dozens of vehicles followed the van, shouting names, as medical vehicles carried the hostages from the helicopter to the medical facility.
“Thank you, thank you,” one woman cried as she was hugged by another.
In the so-called Hostage Square in central Tel Aviv, waves of applause erupted in the square when it was announced that the hostages were being held by the Red Cross.
When people heard the news, they hugged each other, waved flags, and cried. For many Israelis, it was a moment they had dreamed of throughout the 15-month war in Gaza.
“Romi is coming back! Emily is coming back! Delon is coming back!” a group chanted in the plaza.
Confirmation of the handover to the crowd was conveyed on large television screens in the square, with Al Jazeera broadcasting in the background with Israeli commentary.
“Everyone’s crying.”
Among those waiting for the hostages to be released was Shay Dickman, 29, who stood in the center of the square holding a banner representing all three women. She is the cousin of Carmel Gatto, who was abducted by Hamas on October 7, 2023 and killed in captivity. Another of her cousins was released during a brief ceasefire and hostage arrangement in November 2023.
Minutes before the announcement of their release, Dickman told CNN at Hostage Plaza that the three hostages were “on the verge of being returned to safe hands.”
Tania Cohen-Uzzieri, director of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, observed from a nearby museum the square where Israelis gather daily to express solidarity with the hostages.
She said she had sometimes felt the return of the hostages was “wishful thinking” in the past. Their release brings an “incredible” feeling, she said.
“It’s a very emotional moment,” Cohen-Uzzieri told CNN. “We have been waiting for this moment since our last release over a year ago.”
Cohen-Uzzieri said she can feel the “pulsation” of the square every day because it’s right next to her museum.
“Everyone’s crying,” she said.
Another woman, Mai, who declined to give her second name, said after waiting several months, “I can breathe a little bit again.” “And we’re going to stay here until the last one comes back.”
The first phase of the agreement is scheduled to last six weeks, during which the other 30 hostages will be released in stages.
The war has had a devastating impact on Palestinians living in besieged enclaves. The military offensive launched by Israel in response to the Hamas attack on October 7 has killed around 47,000 Palestinians and injured another 110,750, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The war has also displaced nearly the entire Gaza Strip population of more than 2 million people, flattened parts of the territory with Israeli bombing campaigns, and set off a spiraling humanitarian crisis.
Israel has not committed to ending the war, but has said it will participate in negotiations to take the ceasefire to the next stage. Mediators in Cairo, including Egypt, Qatar and the United States, will oversee implementation of the agreement.
In an exclusive interview with CNN’s Bianna Golodriga on Sunday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar stressed that the agreed ceasefire is temporary, saying, “The second phase of the ceasefire period will take place a little over two weeks into the ceasefire period. We will begin negotiations.” It’s a “first phase,” he added, but “there is no automatic transition from one phase to another.”
Museum director Koen Uzzieri said he hoped the remaining hostages would be freed and the war would finally end.
“I sincerely hope that international forces will influence the final decision to continue the release of hostages and end this tragic war,” she said.
CNN Wire
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