THE fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has finally come into effect after 15 months of relentless warfare.
The truce was set back by a few hours on Sunday after intense last-minute negotiations and a near-collapse of the deal just hours before its implementation.
In a critical first step, 33 hostages, including women, children, and elderly individuals held captive by Hamas, are set to be released in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas released the names of the three Israeli hostages set to be freed on the first day of the ceasefire deal – one of whom is British citizen Emily Damari, 28.
Romi Gonen, 24, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, are also to be released following a tense few hours after Hamas failed to initially hand over a list of hostages.
The release of the three women held by Hamas will take place after 2pm today.
Emily’s family’s lawyer Adam Rose told The Sun that whether the Brit is “alive or dead” is unknown “even on the day of her release”.
He said that this has “compounded the torture the family have been going through” since she was brutally taken on October 7.
Mr Rose told The Sun: “Every minute is just another layer of torture.
“Emily’s name appeared on the list of three hostages to be released at 8:10am but we just don’t know if she is alive or dead.
“You hope she’s alive but until that exchange takes place we just don’t know.
“The ongoing torture, the ongoing emotional stress and strain of dealing with this is huge.”
He added: “It’s coming up to 500 days now. Our view throughout this has been that until the person, the hostage, is in your arms, until you can hug them and talk to them you can’t assume anything.
“We have to have hope – if you give up hope you just stop.”
Emily Damari grew up in southeast London before moving to Israel in her 20s.
The Spurs fan was shot in the hand and suffered shrapnel wounds to the leg when she was snatched from the Kfar Aza kibbutz village on October 7.
Her London-born mum Mandy, 63, has desperately campaigned for her daughter’s release who was kidnapped from her home by Hamas alongside her twin brothers Ziv and Gali Berman, 27.
Every morning since her daughter was snatched, Mandy has given her daughter an imaginary hug and sent her a virtual message to “keep strong, keep alive,” telling her “you are going to be okay”.
She has described the past 15 months as “a nightmare, living a life like this.”
Mandy added: “What she’s been feeling there – who knows. It must have been ten times worse for her than it has been for me.”
She is praying Emily will be back in Israel alive today and after nearly 500 torturous days, is desperate to finally be able to give her that hug she has dreamt of giving her since her daughter was taken.
The worried sick mum said: “My nightmare is still going on until I see Emily and all the other 98 hostages back in Israel with their families.
“I have more hope now than I’ve had in the last 15 months.
“It would be the most wonderful feeling in the world if she comes back, the most wonderful feeling – but I won’t believe it until I see and feel it for myself.”
The initial group of freed hostages will be met by medical teams and psychological support staff at three designated points along Gaza’s border before being reunited with their families.
Four more hostages will be returned on the seventh day then every week for a period of four weeks.
Finally, 14 hostages will be returned in the sixth week from the group of 33 made up of 12 women and children, 10 men over the age of 50 and 11 younger men.
Negotiations will start again to secure the release of 65 hostages still in Gaza on the 16th day of the ceasefire.
Palestinian prisoners released on Sunday include 95 individuals, many of whom have not been convicted or tried.
Israel’s occupation has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians since terrorists triggered the conflict by killing 1,200 on October 7, according to Hamas.
Source: https://www.the-sun.com/news/13327486/israel-ceasefire-deal-brink-collapse-hamas-hostage-list/