Tears of joy as the three freed hostages drowned in their mother’s arms after 15 months of imprisonment

JERUSALEM – Three women – a soccer fan, a dancer and a veterinary nurse – returned to Israel on Sunday, amid joy and tears of joy after 15 months of being imprisoned in the Gaza Strip.

They were greeted by their families who spoke for their release in this country and abroad.

Emily Damari

“I’m back to the life I love,” former hostage Emily Damari, 28, wrote on social media after her release.

During a terrorist attack on the Hamas border on October 7, 2023, Damari was seized from his home in kibbutz Kfar Aza and taken to Gaza in his car, losing two fingers in a gunshot.

The photo and video showing Damari holding up a bandaged hand has become a graphic image of the hostages’ resilience.

“I survived!” he shouted as the photo was taken, according to a video from the Israel Defense Forces.

Her mother, Mandy Damari, who moved to Israel from Britain and worked as a kindergarten teacher, campaigned for her daughter’s release, dreaming of the time when she would finally be able to see her.

Mandy Damari described her daughter, who loves football and is a fan of London’s Tottenham Hotspur.

“She is a strong, intelligent and loving daughter with a smiling sense of humor that lights up any room she walks into,” he told a Knesset committee in one of his many speeches about his daughter. “Yesterday, I finally got to hug Emily that I’ve been dreaming about,” he wrote on his Instagram page on Monday, shortly after his daughter was brought back from Gaza.

Emily Damari is doing better than anyone could have expected, her mother wrote.

“I’m also happy that when she was released she showed the world her strong and magical personality,” Mandy Damari wrote on Instagram. “In Emily’s words, she is the happiest girl in the world; he has regained his health.”

Romi Gonen

A professional contemporary dancer and singer from the northern Israeli city of Kfar Vradim was kidnapped at the Nova music festival, which was raided by the army in early Oct. 7.

“It will take me, us, a moment to breathe … and believe in the truth that we filled together,” wrote his mother, Meirav Leshem Gonen, on Facebook on Sunday.

Gonen, 24, called his parents at 7:15 a.m. at the time of the attack, telling them that shots were fired all around. What should he do, he asked.

After being able to hide for hours in the forest, he got into a car with another attendee but, when they tried to leave the area, their car was attacked and he was kidnapped.

Gonen had sent a message to his parents that he was on his way home when the car he was traveling with caught fire and was hit.

Bleeding and fearing he was going to die, he called his mother.

In June, Meirav Gonen told the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva that his daughter was “the only survivor,”

“She was brutally dragged by her beautiful long hair from the car on the road,” said the mother. “I testified to this fact when I spoke to him on the phone, I could hear him being helpless and frustrated not being able to help my child.”

One of Gonen’s first questions when he was released was, “Where is my mother?”

After hugging his mother, he spoke to his father, Eitan Gonen, on the phone.

“I’m alive again,” said Gonen.

Doron Steinbrecher

When the Hamas-led forces approached her home in the kibbutz in Kfar Aza in southern Israel, the 31-year-old veterinary nurse sent her mother, Simona Steinbrecher, a text: “They are here,” it said.

Later, in a sad message to his friends, he wrote, “They’ve taken me, they’ve taken me, they’ve taken me.”

Hamas released a video clip of Steinbrecher and two other hostages, Daniella Gilboa and Karina Ariev, last January. The three appealed to the Israeli government for their release.

In a recent speech at a place called Hostage Square, her mother, Simona Steinbrecher, said that her daughter, the youngest of three children, brings so much joy and laughter to the house.

The mother said she thought that the special bond that was formed when her daughter was in her womb would keep her safe for the rest of her life. “It was very sad,” said Simona Steinbrecher, that she could not keep her daughter safe even though she was kidnapped close to home.

He went on to say that he would do anything to trade his daughter.

Shortly after his release, Steinbrecher’s family posted a message on Instagram. “Our beloved Dodo has finally returned to our arms,” ​​it said. “We want to express our gratitude to everyone who supported and accompanied us on this journey.”

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com