The first three Israeli hostages released under the 42-day ceasefire with Hamas on Sunday said they only became aware of their impending freedom that morning.
“I didn’t think I would come back, I was sure I would die in Gaza,” said one of the three women — either Romi Gonen, 24, Emily Damari, 28, or Doron Steinbrecher, 31.
The new revelations, approved for release by Israel’s military censor, come from testimonies provided Monday and reported by Keshet Media Group’s N12 television station. The comments were not specifically attributed to any of the women, all of whom remain at the Sheba Tel Hashomer Medical Center in Ramat Gan.
The trio told officials they began their confinement together, but were soon separated and spent the next 15 months being moved from one Hamas hiding place to another, both above and below ground.
At one point, they said they were residents of a humanitarian compound in Gaza originally intended for displaced citizens.
Gonen and Damari are reported to have spent much of the 471 days together, cooking and caring for one another. During this time, Gonen, a trained paramedic, helped Damari recover from injuries suffered during her abduction on Oct. 7, 2023.
Damari, an Israeli-U.K. national, lost two fingers when she was shot by a Hamas terrorist during the raid on Kibbutz Kfar Aza that day. In hospital, she told her parents the man broke into her home and shot her dog, per The Times of Israel. Damari said she was shot while trying to comfort the dying animal, and that she also suffered an undisclosed leg injury.
One of the women also revealed she underwent a medical procedure without the aid of anesthesia.
At times while imprisoned, they were able to watch television and listen to the radio, which painted the full picture of the devastation wrought that day but also assured them people at home were still fighting for their release.
“We saw your struggle, we heard our families fighting,” they said.
While the women admitted they “couldn’t believe it” when informed of their release, the exchange — conducted by armed terrorists in a central Gaza square crowded with citizens — was a frightening experience.
“We were terrified to death during the transfer from the hands of the terrorists to the Red Cross,” they said.
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