A huge cheer, embraces and floods of tears: It was with intense emotion that the thousands of people gathered in Hostages Square in the center of Tel Aviv welcomed the various stages in the release of the first three captives handed over by Hamas on Sunday, January 19. The young women, whose names had been made public earlier in the day, arrived in Israel in the late afternoon, as part of the agreement reached between their country and the Islamist organization on January 15. Doron Steinbrecher (31), Romi Gonen (24) and British-Israeli Emily Damari (28) were reunited with their country and loved ones, after 471 days of captivity. They were abducted on October 7, 2023, during the Hamas attack on Israel, the deadliest in the country's history. They are due to be joined over the next six weeks by 30 of the hostages released during the initial phase of the deal, which has three parts.

Before that, however, there had been so much anguish and uncertainty. Right up to the last moment when the young women were actually returned, the Israelis gathered in the square did not dare to believe in any good news. So many disappointed hopes, so many futile expectations. Again on Sunday morning, the ceasefire in the Palestinian territory was two hours late, Hamas having failed to communicate the list of the first women to be freed at the scheduled time. "These days, I've been holding back my enthusiasm," said Vered Peer, a volunteer who has been showing people around the square for months. Like all the others, Peer kept her eyes glued to the giant screen showing images filmed by the Hamas-affiliated Palestinian television station Al-Quds.

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