Reactions as three Gaza hostages freed

The Gaza ceasefire agreement is showing its first results: 90 Palestinian prisoners and 3 Israeli hostages have been freed

Bogdan Matei, 20.01.2025, 14:00

Three Israeli hostages were released on Sunday by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, more than 15 months after they were kidnapped in a terrorist attack on October 7, 2023, which triggered the war in the Gaza Strip. Israel, in turn, freed 90 Palestinian prisoners, teenagers and women, from its prisons.

It was the first exchange of prisoners after the ceasefire agreement in the Palestinian enclave. Radio Romania’s correspondent in Israel reports that Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari, aged between 24 and 31, were released after 471 days of captivity, and adds that, after an initial checkup, the three were taken to a hospital in the center of the country, where they will remain for several days, for full examinations. They seem to have returned to the country in good health.

Doron Steinbrecher, a veterinary assistant, also has Romanian citizenship. Romi Gonen, a dancer, has Romanian roots, as do several hundred thousand other Israelis.

Through its ministry of foreign affairs, Romania welcomes the release of the first Israeli hostages after 15 months in captivity. In a statement, Bucharest thanks all the national stakeholders, including top-level institutions, for their excellent and permanent cooperation.

“The release of the first hostages after the agreement was signed is a time of joy and relief for the families. The ceasefire agreement must be fully implemented in order to ensure the safe return of those still detained and to end the suffering of their families and loved ones, as well as of the civilian population in Gaza. At the same time, the implementation of the agreement paves the way for a lasting peace, which would ensure the security of the region as well as the reconstruction and humanitarian assistance in Gaza,” the statement reads.

Romania also praises what it calls the substantial efforts of the United States, Egypt and Qatar in brokering the deal between Israel and Hamas.

Under the agreement, a total of 33 hostages and over a thousand Palestinian prisoners should be released in a first stage. The deal would also increase the volume of humanitarian aid for the population of Gaza, where, since the start of the Israeli military intervention, almost 47,000 people have been killed.

In a second stage, Hamas is to release the last 65 hostages, while Israel is to pull out its troops from the enclave.

According to Romanian mass media, Romania’s Ambassador to Israel Radu Ioanid calls for moderate optimism, because the situation in the Middle East is very fluid, and “what is gray today is pink tomorrow and black the day after.” (AMP)