As the hostage-ceasefire deal begins, 3 Israeli women were freed over the weekend. Praise God!

From The Times of Israel. While the nation attempted to contain its curiosity and give the three hostages freed from Hamas captivity in Gaza on Sunday their privacy, messages shared by the women and their families sparked hope and joy in Israel after over 15 months of war.

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Who is praying on the wall?

“Love, love, love,” Emily Damari wrote in an Instagram story shared online Monday morning, thanking her family and friends for their support. “I have returned to my beloved life.”

The Sheba Medical Center said on Sunday night that Damari, 28, Romi Gonen, 24, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, were in stable condition after they were transferred by helicopter from the Gaza border to the Tel Aviv-area hospital and reunited with their families.

The women were the first of 33 hostages set to be released over the next several weeks, as part of the first stage of a deal meant to result in the release of the 94 hostages still held in Gaza and end the fighting in the Palestinian enclave. …

Damari’s mother Mandy said her daughter was “in much better health than we expected,” in a statement released via the Hostages and Missing Families Forum Monday morning.

“Yesterday, I finally got to hug Emily, just as I had dreamed of doing for a long time,” she said …

However, she noted that her daughter faces a long road to recovery, after having lost two fingers when she was shot by Hamas terrorists during the onslaught at Kibbutz Kfar Aza. …

In highly emotional pictures and videos of the release Sunday, Damari, Gonen and Steinbrecher could be seen smiling excitedly as they were enveloped by family members. Outside, friends and supporters celebrated, dancing with Israeli flags.

Friends of Damari told Channel 12 that she had leaned through the window of a vehicle to greet them as she passed by after arriving at the Ramat Gan hospital.

“She’s happy and she’s as healthy as she can be… she’s a fighter, she’s strong,” one of her friends said.

In a WhatsApp voice message shared with Hebrew media, Gonen told her friends, “This is Romi, who returned from captivity. Thank you all, I have no idea what you did, I’ve only seen a tiny drop, but you’re the best, I appreciate it so much. Sending you all hugs and kisses, and God willing we’ll meet again soon.” …

There was no comment from the Steinbrecher family, but a friend told the Ynet news site that she appeared to be doing well.

“We saw Doron standing and smiling,” Ofer Oved told the outlet. …

The hostage-ceasefire deal caps a protracted international effort to get both Hamas and Israel to agree to a deal to halt the war sparked by the terror group’s October 7 attack and free the rest of the hostages. The first phase of the three-phase accord provides for a total of 33 captives to be released from Gaza over 42 days in exchange for over 1,904 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, including several serving multiple life sentences for deadly terror attacks and murders.

The next releases under the deal are scheduled for Saturday, when four more women hostages are to be freed. …

Share your prayers for these 3 women and the remaining hostages below.

(Excerpt from The Times of Israel. Photo Credit: GIL COHEN-MAGEN/AFP via Getty Images)