First 3 Israeli Hostages to Be Freed Under Gaza Cease-Fire Are Named

Hamas on Sunday released the names of three hostages to be freed in the first phase of the cease-fire agreement with Israel.The three, all women, were expected to be released later on Sunday.About 100 hostages, living and dead, are thought still to be held captive in Gaza, most of them taken in the deadly Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct.

7, 2023.Thirty-three of them will be released during an initial six-week phase of the cease-fire, including female soldiers and civilians, children, men over 50 and sick and wounded people, according to the agreement.The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, an Israeli group representing family members of the captives, identified the first three hostages to be released on Sunday.

Here is what we know about them:Romi GonenMs.Gonen, was 23 when she was captured as she was trying to leave the Nova music festival in southern Israel when Hamas attacked.

She was speaking at the time to her mother, Meirav Gonen, who she said she had been shot and was bleeding.Last February, Meirav Gonen released a recording of her last phone call with her daughter.

She told Israeli news media that Romi was a strong and happy person who often went to raves.In the early weeks of the war, her mother expressed concern that Israeli military operations in Gaza could endanger the hostages.Romi Gonen’s older sister, Yarden, told The New York Times in February that she regularly went to a plaza in Tel Aviv where families of hostages have held vigils.

“None of us is doing anything remotely related to our previous lives,” she said.Emily DamariMs.

Damari, 27 at the time she was captured, is the only hostage with British citizenship still being held.She was taken from her home in Kibbutz Kfar Azza in southern Israel and was seen by a neighbor in her own car, driven by a militant, heading toward Gaza.Ms.

Damari was raised in Israel but traveled to Britain often, according to her mother, British-born Mandy Damari, who was in Israel in December to speak with...