Romi Gonen , who returned from captivity in Gaza on Sunday after 471 days, gave a first glimpse of her homecoming in an Instagram story. "There is life after death," she wrote. She included a moving photo of herself next to her mother, Meirav Leshem Gonen, taken in the first hours after her return to Israel.
She wrote: "I wanted to stop a moment and say thanks to the people of Israel, my family and friends. The prayers and strength you sent accompanied us the entire way and helped us believe this nightmare will ultimately end. It will take more time to process and thank you all. It must be remembered that there are 94 more hostages in Gaza who are dying for us to save them. The people of Israel live and with the help of God we’ll continue to receive good news in the coming weeks."
Her sister Yarden shared the post and wrote: "My sister is the queen of the world. She did it, we did it, she came home alive!!!".
On Tuesday, Yarden, who was at the forefront of the struggle with her mother Meirav, published her first post since Romi's return , in which she thanked everyone who helped during the 471 days of struggle for her release. "My sister is back! My f**king sister is back! Romi is back alive!" she wrote. The night after the release, Meirav wrote: "It will take me, us, a moment to breathe it in and believe in the reality we have realized together. I promise to return. There are 97 loved ones who need such a reality to come true."
Romi was released in the first round of the deal, along with Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher. While at Sheba Hospital in Tel Hashomer, the three began to share with their relatives a little of what they had experienced in captivity . None of them were alone, but at some point they were separated, and for part of the time they lived in humanitarian compounds that were supposed to be used by displaced Gazans. Some of them said they spent time underground and hardly saw daylight.
Freed hostage Romi meets her mother after return from captivity in Gaza
(צילום: דובר צה"ל )
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They were occasionally exposed to television and radio, and say they saw the struggle of the families and the public for their release. Some of them said they were exposed to television broadcasts about what happened in Israel on October 7, and knew that their families had survived. They said they cooked for each other and took care of each other the entire time.
According to a report on Keshet News, one of them said: "I didn't think I would return, I was sure I would die in Gaza." According to the report, they also said that they only received the news of their release the morning before it took place. "We were scared to death during the transfer from the terrorists to the Red Cross because of the Gazan crowd." They said that although Hamas provided some of them with medication, one of the hostages underwent a medical procedure without anesthesia.