romi gonin and emily damari and emily. we learned just in the last hour lost two fingers during her time in captivity and yet still somehow managing a smile as she was reunited with her family. well, joining me now to discuss what happens next and what it took to get here, former israeli prime minister naftali bennett. bennett. bennett. mr. minister, thanks so much for taking the time this evening. i wonder if you could describe your reaction to the events unfolding right now you know, in israel we're all one big happy family, not always happy. >> but tonight, obviously, there's a lot of joy to see what every israeli feels is our three daughters, rami, emily and doron, coming home, coming home, being back at home on israeli soil, seeing their moms. and. but we have to ensure that all the hostages come back. this is vital. and just as a point worth noting, you know that romi's grandmother, the moment romi came in, she was asked how she feels. she said, it's wonderful, but we need all the other hostages back as well. that's

three young women romy gonin, emily demari and lauren steinbrecher, brought from captivity by the very same group that massacred so many and took them captive. incredibly, it's gunmen back on the streets once again controlling the crowd. the women were handed over to a red cross convoy before heading back into israel. incredible scenes here. after 15 months of heartbreak, of dashed hopes, of disappointment. finally, the first glimpse of one of the hostages in gaza on her way home, three daughters on their way out and three mothers anxiously watching it unfold. and when news came through that they were on their way home, an emotional dam burst wide open. romy, gannon's dad, unable to keep his feet on the ground any longer with the sun beginning to set. emily doran and romy exiting the red cross cars, their faces say it all now. inside idf vehicles, the former hostages back on israeli soil. here in tel aviv, jubilant israelis watching the transfer live as the former hostages changed hands, laughing, cheering and crying. celebrations today for israelis and for palestinians too. for gazans

romi gonin, doron steinbrecher and emily demari. and we are expecting potentially any minute now to start to hear the roar of the rotor blades as an israeli military helicopter arrives here carrying those three women, they will be landing at a helipad not that far from where we are here, and it will be ambulances that will drive them right past. and you may be able to see behind me. alex, there is plastic sheeting that has been erected by the authorities at this hospital, and that is to protect the privacy of these three women who have been through 471 days of captivity as they arrive here. this is the first step of what is going to be a very, very long journey. we had a chance earlier to see some of the hospital rooms at a separate facility that had been prepared for them, for the other 33, for the 33 hostages. we expect to come out during this first phase of the deal. and i want to show you just a little bit of what we saw there. take a look. >> all of the rooms are prepared for a returnee and a family member if they would want th

in order to get to this very moment, i have spoken several times with the mothers of simona and romi gonin in particular, and i can just attest to the extent to which they have been dealing in agony with this moment. and yet through that agony, speaking ceaselessly to reporters, to any public officials who would listen to them in order to try and get their daughters home free. and now it appears that finally they are experiencing their first taste of freedom, and especially for romi gonin, it truly is a full circle moment. this right here, the reem area is is right where that nova music festival was held, where romi was taken hostage by hamas, and also now where she is going to experience some of her first moments of freedom, being reunited with her mother as well. so just a remarkable moment right now, manu. and as we have been experiencing a series of remarkable moments throughout the day inside of gaza, where a population that has been dealing with a war that has been unending and unrelenting and merciless over the course of the last 15 months, has finally come to a pause and people are

romy gonin, 24 years old. she was taken from the nova music festival. you'll remember where so many of the deaths happened in those hours, those early hours of october 7th. her family says she was shot in the hand and that her wounds worsened in captivity. that's romy gonin, emily demar, also in this first group. she's 28 years old. she was taken from kfar aza in the south. she's british, israeli. her mother has said she as well was shot in the hand as well as had shrapnel injuries in her leg. blindfolded, bundled in the back of her own car as she was taken. so many in addition to the undeniable psychological wounds that they have suffered during captivity, also have physical wounds which doctors will be treating once they're released. and the third, doron steinbrecher, 31 years old. she's a veterinary nurse. she was taken from her apartment in the kibbutz kfar aza as well, and there was video showing her, alongside two others who were released from hamas, released by hamas in january 2024. that was a proof of life at the time. so three families, three

and that is because one of those hostages in particular, romi gonin, she was kidnaped by hamas at thea music festival, which happened just behind the highway here that you can see behind me. and so from the same place where she was taken captive, she is also expected to experience her first moments of freedom to finally be able to hug her mother after 15 months of captivity. really an extraordinary moment as we have also been watching. of course, fareed, extraordinary moments playing out inside the gaza strip, as well as people are finally experiencing their first respite after 15 months of war, seeing hundreds of aid trucks beginning to cross into the gaza strip, people celebrating this moment where they no longer have to fear, at least for the time being, the threat of bombs and missiles that have been dropping on them. of course, over the course of the last 15 months. and so this really is one of those rare good news moments that that i'm being able to report here. fareed, after covering this war for the last 15 months, fareed, great reporting. >> thank you. jeremy, we are back wit

. >> three women, 24 year old romi gonin, 28 year old emily de mari and 31 year old darren steinbrecherare now free. >> we cannot imagine the horrors these three young women have endured in 15 months of hamas captivity. >> relatives of romi goren, overcome with emotion after hearing the news. emily de mari all smiles in the photo as she was reunited with her mother. this was the scene in gaza just moments before the women were released. hamas men gathered around the red cross convoy. a crowd gathered to watch the exchange. under this first phase of the deal, 33 hostages will be released over the next six weeks, including two americans, keith samuel siegel and sigi duquenne. sigi has three daughters, the youngest born after he was taken captive. >> his wonderful wife was seven months pregnant and for nine horrific hours wase to survive in the safe room of their home on our kibbutz with her two little daughters. while there was murder all around. >> palestinian prisoners in. israeli jails will also be freed, and the cease fire allows aid to begin moving into gaza. trucks loaded with human

their names are romy gonin, doron steinbrecher and emily demari. and a short while ago they drove past us here at sheba hospital in tel aviv, where they are going to begin the long journey of recovery. israel releasing 90 palestinian prisoners, women and teenagers in exchange for those three young women and humanitarian aid beginning to enter the gaza strip, where it is so badly needed, the hope is that this is the first of what will be many quiet days where we will see the bloodshed coming to an end in gaza. we will see more of these hostages coming out. the big question, though, is whether phase one of the deal this six week ceasefire will be followed by phase two, a permanent end to the war, the withdrawal of all israeli forces from gaza and all hostages finally coming home. ralph sanchez, nbc news, tel aviv. all right. this is a developing story when we're not on air. get the latest on the cease fire and hostage releases on our website. it's nbcbayarea.com. and still ahead, it's a support group like none other. and it's bringing its heart and r

. >> three women, 24 year old romi gonin, 28 year old emily de mari and 31 year old darren steinbrecher are now free. >> we cannot imagine the horrors these three young women have endured in 15 months of hamas captivity. >> relatives of romi goren, overcome with emotion after hearing the news. emily damari all smiles in the photo as she was reunited with her mother. this was the scene in gaza just moments before the women were released. hamas men gathered around the red cross convoy. a crowd gathered to watch the exchange. under this first phase of the deal, 33 hostages will be released over the next six weeks, including two americans, keith samuel siegel and sigi cohen. sigi has three daughters, the youngest born after he was taken captive. >> his wonderful wife was seven months pregnant and for nine horrific hours was able to survive in the safe room of their home on our kibbutz with her two little daughters. while there was murder all around. >> palestinian prisoners in israeli jails will also ben freed, and the cease fire allows aid to begin moving into gaza. trucks loaded with huma

gathering at what has come to be called hostage square, cheered at their liberation. 24 year old romy gonin the north of israel, captured at the nova music festival. 31 year old doron steinbrecher, from a kibbutz near the gaza strip, was kidnaped from her home. 28 year old emily damari, who was british, kidnaped from the same kibbutz. her mother released a statement. her nightmare is already behind her, but the impossible waiting of the rest of the families is still going on. airlifted to the sheba hospital in tel aviv, preliminary examinations show the three women to be in good health. emily lost two fingers during the october 7th terror attack. >> i know we all know they have been through ####. they are emerging from darkness to light. they are really going from slavery to freedom. >> in exchange, 90 palestinians are to be freed from israel's ofer prison near jerusalem. 78 of them will return to the west bank, 12 to east jerusalem. the hostage release was preceded by a cease fire that brought hamas gunmen out of hiding, parading with weapons to show the deadly organization survived. >> we

staff here who have been given the task of caring for the three young women you see on your screen, romy gonindoron steinbrecher and emily demari. after their 471 days in captivity. as you can imagine, a lot of thought has been given to the medical protocols how to care for these hostages as they emerge from gaza. first stage, they go from the captivity of hamas to the red cross. red cross transfers them over to the israeli military, and there they will be given an initial round of medical checks. now, if any of these three women are found to need emergency treatment, they are going to be taken to two hospitals in the south of israel. but assuming that none of them are in any kind of crisis condition, we are expecting ali that they will be loaded onto israeli military helicopters and they will be flown here. and that is something that could potentially happen quite quickly. you know, one of the great, great mental disconnects of this war, tel aviv and gaza, are just a few dozen miles apart from each other, war raging there. here, a normal ish city. a helicopter flight would be a matter of minu

they are romi gonin. she's 24 years old. doron steinbrecher, she's 31 years old. and emily damari, 28 years old, all taken on october 7th. and think about the moment that this is for those hostages themselves. of course, for the hostage families who've been waiting for them, but also for the people of israel, 470 days of waiting, not knowing the fate, frankly, of the hostages and many of them, sadly, close to 100 remain held in gaza, many of them, sadly, we know, have lost their lives during that long wait. and then, of course, inside gaza itself, 470 days of virtually relentless israeli bombing, the death toll mounting now into the tens of thousands, the vast majority of them, according to the best assessments, are civilians. and of course, there's been other forms of suffering there as well. severe shortages of food and medical supplies. most of the hospitals not operational now anymore because of that relentless bombing campaign. so that long line of many hundreds of aid trucks, their desperate need for the aid that they are carrying in the scenes this morning

they are romy gonin, 24 years old. she was taken from the nova music festival, where so many, particularly of the young, were killed in those horrible first hours of october 7th. her family says she was injured, shot in the hand and that her wounds have grown worse during the captivity. also released today emily damari, 28 years old, she was taken from the kibbutz kfar aza. she's a british israeli, also wounded as well. beyond, of course, the psychological wounds that all these hostages have suffered. the third, expected to be released today. she is doron steinbrecher, 31 years old. she's a veterinary nurse, also taken from her own apartment in kfar aza. so three families in israel today will get some sense of relief to see their loved ones again as well as 95 palestinian prisoners expected to be released in the first hours from a prison in the west bank. a moment here to be celebrated, but also manu, the first in so many small steps towards, it's hoped, a longer pause in the fighting. >> yeah, a ray of hope. jim sciut

emily damari romi. gonin. and aaron steinbrecher. finally, back in the arms of their loved ones. love because love. al-qaim romi is back alive. her family cheers as the first images surface in israel, the entire country is celebrating their return amid crowds of people swarming their vehicles and masked hamas militants. this is the moment those hostages emerged from captivity one by one, as seen in this hamas video. they rush into a waiting red cross vehicles that will whisk them to freedom. after crossing into israel, where they are greeted by the israeli military. doron, romi and emily embraced their mothers for the first time after months of agonizing uncertainty. the sound you hear behind me is the engine of a military helicopter whirring, preparing to take off with these three newly freed hostages aboard. as the helicopters take flight, their journey to recovery is only just beginning a long road also lies ahead for the people of gaza. hours into the cease fire, some of the first displaced palestinians setting foot in what remains of northern gaza. this is what many are retur

these three young women, romy gonin, emily demari and lauren steinbrecher, who just literally a few minutesgo drove past us here into the sheba medical hospital behind me. they have been in captivity for 471 days, and now they have been free for about five hours. we've been talking to medical professionals throughout the day about the unbelievably complex and protracted recovery that they have ahead of them. i'll give you just a couple of examples of specifics that these doctors are thinking about when they are treating people who have been hostages for so long. like many people in gaza, these hostages may not have had much to eat for a long time. and when you have malnourished people, if you give them heavy meals, sugary meals, it can send their bodies into shock. it can potentially be lethal. it's known as refeeding syndrome. so they're thinking very carefully about what kind of nutrition to give these hostages. it's obviously night now, but it's possible that these women have been in tunnels for protracted periods. their eyes may not be used to daylight. they are thinking carefully about

. >> romi gonin, doron steinbrecher and emily demari. >> after they were freed from gaza. >> this wasan epic journey. >> it began in hamas captivity. they were handed over to the red cross, surrounded first by hamas gunmen, but then also just an enormous crowd inside of gaza. the red cross drove them to an israeli military position. >> they were handed over to idf forces flown by helicopter here. >> and then they drove straight past us into this hospital, where they are beginning what is going to be a long road to recovery. >> but doctors say the early indications are that they are in pretty good condition, given just the unimaginable trauma that they lived through during 471 days of captivity. >> all three were able to walk unaided. doctors saying they are healthy enough to be reunited with their families. >> we are learning that emily damari lost two fingers during the october 7th attack and everyone here is clear these women have a long way to go. >> one doctor telling us that hamas dehumanized them, and the goal is to give them their humanity back. >> now, this ceasefire went into

romi gonin and emily damari these women have spent more than a year in captivity, and while israel is mobilized to bring them home. aid trucks are waiting at a different border crossing to bring more aid into decimated gaza. we will bring you that all live as it happens, and we are also going to look ahead to donald trump's inauguration tomorrow. his team, of course, is closely monitoring the developments out of the middle east. here with me now is donald trump's incoming national security advisor. mike waltz, thank you so much for being here. so you met with hostage families yesterday. i'm going to be speaking with two of the families later this morning, including the family of american edan alexander, who is still believed to be alive and expected to be released as part of the second phase of this deal. what assurances did you give them, and will you give now that the deal won't collapse before we get there? >> well, i gave them the assurance that getting their loved ones out of those horrific tunnels is top of mind for president trump. it's top of mind for his administration. and w

the three israeli women, 24 year old romi gonin, 31 year old doron steinbrecher and 28 year old emily damari are said to be in good physical condition and they are the first of 33 hostages set to be released by hamas over a 42 day cease fire. israel today in exchange, is set to release dozens of palestinian prisoners and detainees. i want to go straight to a special moment before i go to the region to show you the mothers of those three young israeli women released today watching the video of their daughters heading towards freedom. and we are following this. in addition to other big breaking news, including the fact that donald trump will be inaugurated at this very time tomorrow. much more on that to come. but first, let's go to the region and get information from cnn's jeremy diamond about where exactly these former, now former hostages are and what their condition is. jeremy. >> well, dana, as you said, it does appear that these three women who have been held hostage for over 15 months now inside the gaza strip by hamas, are in what is being reported to us as good medical conditio

now, the first hostages freed are three women, 24 year old romy gonin, 28 year old emily de mari andld doron steinbrecher. they have spent 471 days in captivity. now, under this first phase of the deal, 33 hostages will be released over the next six weeks and aid can now begin to move into gaza. we've seen these images here, those aid trucks already lining up on the egyptian side of the gaza border as part of the exchange. they would then go in and you can see them going through the gates. and as part of the deal, israel has also agreed to release hundreds of palestinian prisoners. now, back in october of 2024, abc's martha raddatz visited the bullet riddled homes of two of the women who were taken hostage and heard the stories of their abduction by hamas. two americans, keith siegel and siegel dekel, are not expected to be released today, but are supposed to be in that first group of 33. again, about 250 people were kidnaped by hamas on october 7th, 2023. it's believed that about 60 hostages are still alive. let's go ahead and get to our team. out in the field, we have abc's chief f

those three female hostages, romy gonin, doron steinberger and emily damari.y were handed over to the red cross, the red cross, then taking them to the israeli military, they were greeted once inside israel by their mothers and then they will be flown. this process is underway right now to tel aviv, where they will receive medical treatment so we can confirm that the process is still underway, but that they are now inside israeli territory. so the first hostage transfer has been successful of this long process and of course, long awaited for those mothers greeting the three young women ranging in age from 24 to 31. do we know anything at this early stage, richard, about the health of the three hostages who are now free? emily. they were all walking. we didn't get very many images of them. there had been someme expectation that at least one of these young women would be potentially in a wheelchair. all of them seemed to be, at least at a first glance, to be in relatively good condition. rami conan, as you mentioned, 24 years old, we have spoken over the process

big hospitals here in tel aviv, and it was the final destination for those three female hostages romi goninron steinbrecher and emily demari, after they were freed from gaza. this was really an epic journey. it began in hamas captivity. they were handed over to the red cross, surrounded first by hamas gunmen, but then also just an enormous crowd inside of gaza. the red cross drove them to an israeli military position. they were handed over to idf forces flown by helicopter here. and then they drove straight past us into this hospital, where they are beginning what is going to be a long road to recovery. but doctors say the early indications are that they are in pretty good condition, given just the unimaginable trauma that they lived through during 471 days of captivity. all three were able to walk unaided. doctors saying they are healthy enough to be reunited with their families. we are learning that emily damari lost two fingers during the october 7th attack, and everyone here is clear these women have a long way to go. one doctor telling us that hamas dehumanized them, and the goal is to

the other two named hostages are reportedly romy gonin and doron steinbrecher, with the israeli pm's office saying four other living hostages will be released in seven days time. in response to the ceasefire being enacted earlier this morning, hamas fighters have gathered in gaza in order to celebrate. videos released from the region show members of the hamas armed wing chanting and celebrating as the delayed truce came into effect this morning. over to america now and tomorrow will mark the inauguration of president elect donald trump as he makes his return to the white house. the soon to be 47th president arrived in the washington area on saturday evening, where he then took in a fireworks display with his wife, melania. it's expected he will also host a rally with his supporters later today in downtown washington, although a counter rally also took place yesterday, with thousands attending to protest the incoming president. earlier, shadow foreign secretary priti patel told gb news that people in the us and the uk should accept trump as america's new president. >> some people have

released today are two other named hostages , 24 two other named hostages, 24 year old romi gonin andar old rina steinbrecher, who were also freed. the israeli prime minister's office says four other living hostages will be released in seven days time, as the hostages were released after 15 long months, there were cheers and tears from crowds in tel aviv. there are still many others yet to be released at a later stage, in response to the ceasefire being enacted earlier today, terror group hamas fighters gathered in gaza in order to celebrate videos released from the region show members of the hamas armed wing chanting and celebrating as the delayed truce came into effect this morning. aid trucks have now been entering into gaza since the ceasefire was enacted. displaced palestinians have now begun returning to their homes, and 90 palestinians are set to be released today. thousands of donald trump supporters waited for hours in the cold and rain to attend his victory rally, taking place today, a day before the president elect returns to the president elect returns to the white house.

also romy gonin, who is 24.he was at that nova music festival when she was kidnapped on october the 7th, and doran steinbrecher, who is 31 and a veterinary nurse. so three young women there and we will hopefully be seeing them being released this afternoon. and gb news will, of course, be keeping you abreast of breaking news. there are lots of stories in the papers today about team trump, and whether they're going to be able to get on very well with keir starmer, but somebody who is in washington dc now is the shadow foreign secretary, priti patel, who joins us. lovely to see you this morning. shadow foreign secretary. thank you for getting up early for this media round. lovely to see you. look, what do you make of the reports coming out of the middle east? we think that emily demari, who is one of the british hostages, will be released this afternoon. strikes me that this ceasefire has seemed as if it's in on a bit of a knife edge. we've had the resignation of ben gvir, a very hard right minister in netanyahu's

the other two named hostages are reportedly romi gonin and doron steinbrecher, with the israeli pm'sffice saying four other living hostages will be released in seven days time. earlier on gb news, defence editor for the evening standard, robert fox, reacted to the news of emily de mari's release. >> what i would say is that is very cunning for hamas because thatis very cunning for hamas because that is to reach out to britain, the uk and remember the international criminal court and so on. and you know that that's an appeal to lawfare. starmer. it's a very interesting subset to the whole story. >> meanwhile, in response to the ceasefire being enacted earlier today, hamas fighters gathered in gaza in order to celebrate videos released from the region show members of the hamas armed wing chanting and celebrating as the delayed truce came into effect earlier this morning. meanwhile, one israeli citizen has expressed concerns about how long the ceasefire will last until. >> the ceasefire is something that i hope that will work out, but as i know, hamas, you cannot even trust them in 1%.

being released today are two other named hostages , 24 year other named hostages, 24 year old romi gonin and 31 year old doron strasburger, with the israeli prime minister's office saying four other living hostages will also be released in seven days time. these are live pictures coming from tel aviv, where thousands of people continue to gather to witness the moment that the hostages have been released. and as it happened, there were cheers and tears from the crowds. there are still many others yet to be released at a later stage, in response to the ceasefire being enacted earlier today, terror group hamas fighters gathered in gaza in order to celebrate videos released from the region show members of the hamas armed wing chanting and celebrating as the delayed truce came into effect this morning. 90 palestinians are also being released today. tomorrow will mark the inauguration of president elect donald trump, as he makes his return to the white house, the soon to be 47th president arrived in washington last night, where he then took in a fireworks display with his wife, melania. it's e

released today are two other named hostages , 24 two other named hostages, 24 year old romi gonin andyear old doron steinbrecher, who were also freed. today, the israeli prime minister's office says four other living hostages will also be released in seven days time, as the hostages were released after 15 months, there were cheers and tears from crowds in tel aviv. there are still many others yet to be released at a later stage. in response to the ceasefire being enacted earlier today, terror group hamas fighters gathered in gaza in order to celebrate videos released from the region show members of the hamas armed wing chanting and celebrating as the delayed truce came into effect this morning. aid trucks have been entering into gaza since the ceasefire was enacted. displaced palestinians have begun returning to their homes, and 90 palestinians were reportedly be released today. in other news, tomorrow will mark the inauguration of president elect donald trump as he makes his return to the white house, the soon to be 47th president arrived in washington last night, where he took in a

the other two are named hostages are 24 year old romi gonin and 31 year old doron schweinberger, withhe israeli prime minister's office saying four other living hostages will also be released in the seven coming days. the three women will be received by the international committee of the red cross during a handover at the israel—gaza border. however, there are still many others yet to be released at a later stage. earlier, the father to one of those still held by the terror group hamas told gb news the next group of hostages need to be released as soon as possible. >> we are waiting for it to happen. we have no guarantee that it will happen and we hope that it will happen and we hope that hamas and israel will come to an agreement that will release all hostages and, and they go on a ceasefire, a permanent ceasefire. >> well, in response to the ceasefire being enacted earlier today, terror group hamas fighters gathered in gaza in order to celebrate videos released from the region show members of the hamas armed wing chanting and celebrating as the delayed truce came into effect this mo