Jan 19 (CNN/GNA) – Israelis were elated following the release of three hostages from Gaza on Sunday, saying it almost feels unreal after so many months of waiting.
“It’s a very emotional moment,” Tania Coen-Uzzielli, director of Tel Aviv Museum of Art, told CNN from Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square. “We were waiting for this moment since the last release which was more than one year ago.”
Coen-Uzzielli said she could feel “the pulse” of the plaza every day, as it is located right next to her museum. Hostages Square saw many Israelis gather in solidarity with the hostages held in Gaza every day.
“Everybody is crying,” she said.
Mai, another woman, who declined to give a second name, said, “We can breathe a little more again” after months of waiting. “And we are going to be here until the very last one comes back.”
However, Mai cautioned, “We don’t know what it means about what they went through and how they are physically and mentally,” adding that “they are three incredibly strong women.”
Coen-Uzzielli, the museum director, hopes this can be “the start of a new period,” which may one day end the war with Hamas.
“I really hope that an international force will influence the ultimate decision to continue the release of the hostages and to stop this tragic war,” she said.
“Emily is finally home,” released hostage’s mother says
The mother of Emily Damari, one of the three hostages released from Gaza on Sunday, has said “after 471 days, Emily is finally home” in a statement shared with CNN.
Damari entered Israel on Sunday afternoon, where she is expected to reunite with her mother and undergo a medical assessment in Re’im, southern Israel.
“I want to thank everyone who never stopped fighting for Emily throughout this horrendous ordeal, and who never stopped saying her name. In Israel, Britain, the United States, and around the world. Thank you for bringing Emily home,” Damari’s mother Mandy said in the statement.
“While Emily’s nightmare in Gaza is over, for too many other families the impossible wait continues. Every last hostage must be released, and humanitarian aid must be provided to the hostages who are still waiting to come home,” Damari’s mother said.
Damari, a 28-year-old British-Israeli woman, was released along with Romi Gonen and Doron Steinbrecher on Sunday.
The release of the three hostages is “wonderful and long-overdue news,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement, wishing the women “all the very best as they begin the road to recovery after the intolerable trauma they have experienced.”
“We must now see the remaining phases of the ceasefire deal implemented in full and on schedule, including the release of those remaining hostages and a surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza,” Starmer said. “The UK stands ready to do everything it can to support a permanent and peaceful solution.”
GNA/CNN