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Relatives of freed Gaza hostages call for release of remaining captives

Released British-Israeli hostage Emily Damari arrives at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel, after being held in Gaza since the deadly October 7 2023 attack by Hamas, in this?handout?image obtained by Reuters on January 19, 2025. (REUTERS)
Released British-Israeli hostage Emily Damari arrives at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel, after being held in Gaza since the deadly October 7 2023 attack by Hamas, in this?handout?image obtained by Reuters on January 19, 2025. (REUTERS)
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Updated 20 January 2025

Relatives of freed Gaza hostages call for release of remaining captives

Relatives of freed Gaza hostages call for release of remaining captives
  • Mandy Damari, the mother of British-Israeli Emily Damari, said her daughter was “in high spirits.â€

RAMAT GAN, Israel: The relatives of the three Israeli hostages released from Gaza by Palestinian militants Hamas called on Monday for all those remaining in the territory to be freed.
Speaking at a press conference at the Sheba hospital where the three women are being treated, they gave no details on the conditions in which their relatives had been held for 471 days or on their health.
Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher were released on Sunday as part of the first round of exchanges that also saw around 90 Palestinian prisoners freed from Israeli jails.
Meirav Leshem Gonen, the mother of Romi Gonen, said: “We got our Romi back, but all families deserve the same outcome, both the living and the dead. Our hearts go out to the other families.â€
“We are a people who desire peace but are ready for war when needed,†she added.
Yamit Ashkenazi meanwhile passed on a message from her sister Doron Steinbrecher.
“Everyone needs to return, until the last hostage comes home. Just as I was fortunate to return to my family, so must everyone else.â€
Mandy Damari, the mother of British-Israeli Emily Damari, said her daughter was “in high spirits.â€
She called for all the hostages to be released and for humanitarian aid that was going into the Gaza Strip to also go to the remaining captives.
Of the 251 hostages taken during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, 91 remain in Gaza, including 34 the military has said are dead.
A further two hostages who are presumed alive have been held in Gaza since 2014 and 2015 respectively, as has the body of a soldier killed in the 2014 Gaza war. The three are also due to be released as part of the deal.
Before the press conference, the Israeli military released new footage of the moment the three freed hostages were reunited with their mothers at an Israeli military base.
In the footage, the three women are seen embracing their mothers tightly as they meet for the first time after their release.
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Tunisia repatriates 10,000 migrants in 2025, vows not to become a transit zone

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Tunisia repatriates 10,000 migrants in 2025, vows not to become a transit zone

Tunisia repatriates 10,000 migrants in 2025, vows not to become a transit zone
Repatriations were carried out through a voluntary return program coordinated with the IOM
Nafti said Tunisia has reiterated to its European partners that “it will not become a transit zone“

TUNIS: Tunisia has repatriated about 10,000 irregular migrants so far this year, most of them from African countries, Foreign Minister Mohamed Ali Nafti said on Tuesday, as the North African country faces pressure from the European Union to stem crossings across the Mediterranean.
Nafti told lawmakers that the repatriations were carried out through a voluntary return program coordinated with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), with weekly flights arranged to help migrants return home.
He said that Tunisia has reiterated to its European partners that “it will not become a transit zone.â€
Tunisia repatriated about 7,200 migrants in 2024 under the same initiative, according to official data, and aims to continue returning the remaining migrants until “the phenomenon is eliminated,†it has said.
Tunisia is facing a migration crisis and thousands of migrants from Africa are living in tents in forests in southern Tunisian towns such as Amra and Jbeniana after authorities prevented them from crossing the Mediterranean to reach Europe.
As Tunisia has tightened security along its maritime borders, the number of migrants reaching Europe has dropped significantly this year.