British-Israeli woman among first three hostages Hamas plans to release today | World News

Emily Damari, a 28-year-old British-Israeli woman, is among the first three hostages Hamas plans to release today as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal.

She was abducted during the 7 October Hamas attack when she was “shot in the hand, injured by shrapnel in her leg, blindfolded, bundled into the back of her own car, and driven back to Gaza”, according to her mother.

The other two hostages are Romi Gonen, 24, and 31-year-old Doron Steinbrecher.

Hamas said on Sunday it had handed the names of the three women hostages over to mediators of the ceasefire.

The long-sought ceasefire for Gaza, where Israel has been waging a powerful military campaign for the past 15 months, was delayed by several hours before it eventually took effect at 11.15am local time.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the ceasefire, which had been due to start at 8.30am, would not begin until Israel received the names.

After receiving the list, his office confirmed in a statement the ceasefire had started, and that Israeli security personnel were checking the “details” and contacting the families of the hostages who would be released after 4pm.

It also said four other living female hostages would be freed in seven days.

The ceasefire deadline was missed after Hamas failed to issue the list of the hostages up for release today on time.

The group blamed “technical field reasons” for the delay, and as a result Israel continued to launch military strikes into Gaza.

Sky’s Middle East correspondent Alistair Bunkall said he understood these technical issues may have been related to Hamas’s difficulties passing messages between its leadership in Gaza. It has long avoided using mobile phones to prevent detection by the Israeli military.

The Israeli military said it struck “terror targets” in northern and central Gaza on Sunday morning as the dispute with Hamas over the delivery of the list continued.

At least eight Palestinians were killed and dozens injured in the military strikes, the Palestinian civil emergency service said.

Bunkall said: “Many in Israel will naturally blame Hamas for playing games and risking the lives of the hostages and the Gazan people.

“The mediating teams knew the ceasefire would be shaky, they knew that there would be bumps in the road and have encouraged both Israel and Hamas to remain calm as any difficulties are worked through.”

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