Hamas releases three Israeli hostages in the first phase of the ceasefire

The release of the three Israeli women came just hours after the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took hold.

Qatar-based Al Jazeera, showed live video of them walking between vehicles as their convoy moved through Gaza City, surrounded by a huge crowd, with many people holding up phones and filming. The vehicles were accompanied by armed men who wore green Hamas headbands and struggled to guard the cars from an unruly crowd that swelled into the thousands.

Meanwhile, in Tel Aviv, thousands of people gathered to watch the news on large screens erupted in cheers. For months, many had gathered in the square to demand a ceasefire deal.

Romi Gonen was kidnapped from the Nova music festival in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. That morning, Gonen's mother, Merav, and her eldest daughter spent nearly five hours speaking to Gonen as militants marauded through the festival grounds. Gonen told her family that roads clogged with abandoned cars made escape impossible and that she would seek shelter in some bushes.

Then she said words that continue to echo in her mother’s head every day. “Mommy I was shot, the car was shot, everybody was shot. ... I am wounded and bleeding. Mommy, I think I’m going to die,” she recounted Romi as saying, in a press conference a few weeks after the abduction.

At a loss for what to do, Merav Gonen tried to convince her daughter that she wasn’t going to die, to start breathing and treat her wounded friends. According to Merav, Gonen's last word during the call was a shriek of “Mommy!” as approaching gunfire and the men’s shouts drowned out everything.

Then the phone shut off. Israeli authorities identified her phone's location in Gaza.

Over the past 15 months, Merav has been one of the most outspoken voices