‘I came back alive!’: Videos show freed hostages Romi Gonen, Emily Damari, and Doron Steinbrecher reuniting with their mothers

The Prime Minister’s Office releases tear-jerking videos of the moments three Israeli hostages released from Hamas captivity after 471 days yesterday were reunited with their mothers, at an army facility near the Gaza border.

In the short clips, the women are seen led by IDF troops — mostly female — to meet their mothers, who were waiting for their daughters at the special military facility that was set up ahead of the release.

Romi Gonen, Emily Damari, and Doron Steinbrecher were the first hostages to be released in a ceasefire deal with the Palestinian terror group that came into effect yesterday.

In the video, Gonen, clearly moved and excited, is seen being led by an IDF soldier to a room where her mother, Merav Leshem Gonen, was waiting for her. They ran into each other’s arms in a tearful embrace.

A shot a few moments later showed Gonen, now changed out of the black hoodie she was wearing when she and the other two women were handed over to the Red Cross by masked Hamas gunmen in Gaza City some two hours earlier, speaking to her father on a video call.

“Dad, I came back alive! I came back alive,” she told him through happy tears.

Next in the video, Damari is seen walking through a tent wearing a bright green sweat suit, surrounded by IDF officers, chatting, smiling, and shaking hands as she was guided through the facility to meet her mother, Mandy Damari.

The camera angle caught mother and daughter as they rounded the corner and walked into a tight embrace.

The next shot showed the freshly released hostage on a video call with her brothers. “I survived!” she shouts happily, waving her bandaged hand in a defiant fist.

The footage also shows Doron Steinbrecher’s mother Simona walking excitedly down a corridor in the facility to the room where her daughter was waiting for her, still dressed in the bright pink outfit from her Hamas captors.

They hugged and cried as Simona could be heard saying, “My beautiful girl, you’re with me, I’ll keep you safe.”