The first three hostages released to the Red Cross after 15 months in Hamas captivity as part of an operation ceasefire and hostage release agreement between Israel and Hamas The rule came into effect early Sunday.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum identified the three women as Romin Gonen, 24, Doron Steinbrecher, 31, and Emily Damari, 28 Emily Damari, who was released to the Red Cross by Hamas militants around 10:30. 5:30 a.m. ET (local time). They have been held since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.

A senior IDF official said the Red Cross would hand them over to the IDF for initial health checks at a special reception center near the Gaza border.

After the examination, they will be transferred by helicopter or ground vehicle to hospitals across Israel, where areas are ready to welcome them and attend to any medical needs they may have.

Senior IDF officials said they were expected to be reunited with their families at the hospital.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched an attack that triggered a 15-month war in which approximately 250 people were kidnapped. After the remaining hostages were released or their bodies were recovered, approximately 100 hostages remained in Gaza.

Hours before Sunday's ceasefire, which many hoped would be the first step toward ending the war, Israel announced it had recovered the body of Oron Shaul, a man killed in the 2014 Israel-Hama The remains of soldiers killed in the Sri Lankan war have been kept by the Israeli government. Since then, militants.

Here's what we know about them:

Romy Gonen, 24

On October 7, 2023, Gonen was kidnapped from the Nova Music Festival in southern Israel. Gonen's mother, Merav, and her eldest daughter spoke to Gonen for nearly five hours that morning as armed men stormed the festival grounds. Gonen told her family that the road was blocked by abandoned cars, making it impossible for her to escape and that she would seek shelter in some bushes.

Then she spoke the words that echoed in her mother's mind every day. "Mom, I was shot, the car was shot, everybody was shot... I was hurt and bleeding. Mom, I thought I was going to die," she recalled of Romi in said at a news conference weeks after the shooting. kidnapping.

Merav has been one of the most outspoken advocates for the return of the hostages over the past 15 months, appearing on almost daily Israeli news programs and traveling abroad on missions.

"We are doing everything we can so that the world does not forget," Merav told The Associated Press on the six-month anniversary of the Hamas attack. "Every day we wake up and take a deep breath and keep walking and keep doing the things that will bring her back."

Emily Damari, 28

Damali, a British-Israeli citizen, was abducted from her apartment in Kibbutz Kfar al-Azha, a communal farming village hit by Hamas attacks. She lives in a small apartment in a neighborhood for young people. Militants broke through the kibbutz's border fence and ransacked nearby areas.

Kibbutz Kfar Azha said Damali was often "the glue that held her close group of friends together" and she always organized gatherings of friends at the best barbecue corner in the entire kibbutz.

"All Emily's mom, Mandy, wanted to do was hug Emily. But she wouldn't believe it until she saw it," Emily Cohen, who represents the Damari family, told CBS News partner UK before their release broadcasting company.

Doron Steinbrecher, 31

Steinbrecher is a veterinary nurse who loves animals and a neighbor of Kfar Azaki Buzdamari.

At 10:20 on October 7, 2023, Steinbrecher called her mother. "Mom, I was scared," her brother Dole recalled, according to the Associated Press. "I was hiding under the bed and heard them trying to get into my apartment."

Steinbrecher and two other female Israeli soldiers appear in a video released by Hamas on January 26, 2024.

How will the other hostages be released?

Gonen, Steinbrecher and Damari are the first three hostages to be released in a new ceasefire and hostage release agreement between Israel and Hamas, which will be implemented in phases.

The first phase of the ceasefire requires Hamas to release 33 hostages within six weeks. A draft seen by CBS News said that would include women, children and hostages over 50 years old.

On the first day of the agreement, Hamas will release three hostages. On the seventh day, four hostages were released. Since then, Hamas has released three hostages taken from Israel every seven days, first the living and then the bodies of the dead.

The first phase of the agreement will also see the release of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israel. Israel is expected to release 90 prisoners in exchange for the freedom of the first three hostages.

"This is a critical and emotional time for the families of the victims and for all of Israel," the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement. "While we are happy for each of the hostages who have returned home, we remain We are deeply concerned for the loved ones who may be left behind. Now more than ever, we need the public to stand with us until the last hostage is returned. We will leave no one behind. Only through the power of our solidarity can we ensure that every Everyone comes back—the living are healed and the dead are properly buried.”