The first three Israeli hostages released under the new Gaza ceasefire deal are in “stable condition,” the hospital where they were taken told the Times of Israel
today.

Emily Damari, Romy Gonen and Doron Steinbrecher were released yesterday after spending more than 15 months as hostages in the Gaza Strip.

“It will take a few more days to complete the necessary tests, said Shefi Medelowitz, the deputy director general at the Shiba Medical Center near Tel Aviv. Hospital staff will continue to monitor their clinical condition, he added.

The three women were abducted from Gaza during the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. After being handed over to the International Red Cross, they were taken to the hospital to be reunited with their families.

About 90 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails were released in exchange for the release of the three hostages.

Damari, who has dual citizenship – Israeli and British – made an Instagram post expressing her feelings after being released after 471 days of hostage-taking. “I have returned to the life I love. I am the happiest person in the world just to be alive,”the 28-year-old reportedly wrote, according to the newspaper.

Emily’s mother, Mandi Damari, in a statement issued through the Hostage and Missing Persons Families Forum said her daughter “is in much better health than we expected.” “Yesterday I finally got to hug Emily, just like I have dreamed of doing for a long time,”she said, thanking the public for their unstinting support over the past 15 months.“You are all an integral part of Emily’s family.”Mandi Damari praised her daughter’s “incredible fortitude,” said the road to recovery is “just beginning” and asked for respect for her daughter’s privacy and that of the entire family.

For her part, Meyrave Leshem Gonen, the mother of Romi Gonen, who was also released yesterday, said she “needs some time to believe in the new reality.”

In a brief Facebook post, Leshem Gonen says she currently lives“in an alternate reality, cut off from the outside world, where nothing exists except family.”