The crowds in Tel Aviv’s “Hostage Square” cheered and whooped with joy late Sunday at the news that the first three hostages freed under the Gaza ceasefire deal had returned to Israel.
There was elation among those who had waited for hours in the plaza in the centre of Israel’s commercial hub opposite Israeli military headquarters.
The good news of the release of the three women was tempered by the knowledge that so many hostages still remained captives of Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, however.
A total of 33 Israeli hostages, 31 of whom taken by militants during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, will be returned from Gaza during an initial 42-day truce, in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinians in Israeli custody.
Palestinian militants took 251 people hostage on October 7, with 91 still in Gaza after Sunday’s release, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
AFPTV footage showed the hushed crowd watching 24-hour coverage on a large screen from mid-afternoon, waiting for any sign that the hostage release was really going ahead.
Arms crossed and amid looks of concern, they watched the footage showing masked Hamas fighters in Gaza trying to control crowds of people who had gathered to see the three hostages being handed over to the Red Cross.
At the first glimpse of the hostages in the back of a car in Gaza, surrounded by Hamas fighters, the Israeli onlookers in Tel Aviv burst into a brief moment of applause and cheering before falling silent again.
Now they looked on, smiling and filming the moment, finally allowing themselves to believe that hostages were finally coming home after so much false hope.
One young woman in the crowd wept openly as next to her a jubilant moustachioed man bounced up and down with excitement.
More cheering followed when it was confirmed by Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari that the three women — Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher — were back in Israel and finally free after 471 days as captives in Gaza.
A video later released by the Israeli military showed families of the three screaming, jumping for joy and crying as they watched their relatives returning home.
In Jerusalem, President Isaac Herzog had opted to head to the Old City’s Western Wall to pray for the three. The ancient retaining wall stands beneath the holiest place in Judaism, known to Jews as the Temple Mount.
The Hostages and Families Forum said: “Their return today represents a beacon of light in the darkness, a moment of hope and triumph of the human spirit. For their families and for all of us, this is a moment that will be forever etched in our memory.”
“Their return reminds us of our profound responsibility to continue working towards the release of everyone — until the last hostage returns home.”
It continues to tick for the 91 still captive in the Palestinian territory.
(AFP)
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