Emotions were running high on Sunday night in north-west London following the release of three Israeli hostages earlier that day.

There was a palpable sense of relief among over 100 hostage campaigners who had convened at the war memorial in Golders Green to reflect on the day’s dramatic events.

(l-r) Released hostages Romy Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari

At the same time, there was a gritty determination to continue fighting for the release of 94 remaining captives - including the Bibas brothers, Kfir and Ariel, now aged two and five - who were abducted with their parents by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023.

Nivi Feldman from Hostages and Missing Families Forum UK reminded the group and the assembled media that there were still five hostages in Gaza with relatives in the UK, including Eli Sharabi, whose British-born wife Lianne and two daughters, Noiya, 16, and Yahel, 13, were murdered by Hamas terrorists.

Like Eli, Keith Seigel, 65, Tsachi Idan, 50, and peace activist Oded Lifshitz, 84, all have UK family and are on the list to be released in the first phase.

Other hostages with UK connections are Avinatan Or, 31, whose mother, Ditza, has a British passport, Shay Levinson, 19, and Ilan Weiss, 56. Both Shay and Ilan were murdered on October 7 and their bodies are believed to be in Gaza. None of the three are on the first list of hostages to be freed. “Hamas, you don’t need a deal to let them go. Just let them go,” implored Feldman.

Poster of hostage Keith Siegel, 65, who has UK family

Campaigners, who have been working tirelessly for the past 15 months – putting up yellow ribbons and posters of hostages, holding rallies and writing to politicians – spoke of their happiness at seeing British Israeli Emily Damari, 28, being released alongside Doron Steinbrecher, 31, and Romi Gonen, 24.

But they also talked about their fear for the remaining hostage and their ambivalence towards the hostage ceasefire deal, which will see the release of over 1,900 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for 33 hostages in the first phase of the deal.

Campaigner Marilyn told the JC: “It’s a huge relief that [the girls] are free and alive. I’m glad especially that Doron is alive because in a video about a year ago, she looked very weak. But I am worried about the babies. Why were they not first? What’s happened to them? Where are they?”

Hostage campaigner Marilyn

She added: “I don’t know how the world can tolerate that all these Palestinian criminals are being released into the world, all these rapists and serial mass murderers. It’s not just Israel that will suffer. I don‘t know how the world is fine with that.”

Tami Isaacs, founder of Karma Bread in Hampstead, who had brought a number of ribbon-shaped challah loaves with her, said: “Today, all I could do in my bakery was make challah ribbons. I had to do something mindful in the name of the hostages that we are so desperately waiting for. We are so so grateful, especially to have Emily home, but there are many more trapped in those tunnels, who desperately need to be brought out.”

Tami Isaacs (Photo: Gaby Wine)

Jack Miller, who has been at the forefront of galvanising the hostage campaign, said: “It has ben 471 days of hell for these people, but today, we have seen a glimpse of light... We have been fighting for all the hostages tirelessly, especially Emily. To many of us, she has become someone we are close to, though we have never met.

"She is a British citizen, who is one of our own. She is a beautiful British soul, who loves a drink, watching Spurs and hanging out with her friends. The joy we have today that Emily, Doron and Romy are home is overwhelming."

Handing out hostage posters and ribbons to campaigners, Jack added: “We still have 94 hostages in Gaza, and we are desperate for them to be home. We want peace to return to the region, where Israelis and Gazan people can live. We will keep [the hostages] in our hearts and make sure we never forget them.”

Sheldon Stone (Photo: Gaby Wine)

Campaigner Sheldon Stone said it had been “a day of mixed emotions”, saying that he and his family had marked the news by eating Israeli dates and halva, but “also with tears in our eyes. The future is just so uncertain. Somehow, we’ve got to make Hamas stick to this deal and, afterwards, we’ve really got to put on diplomatic pressure, so we never have Hamas in power again, and we never face this problem again.

He added that it was “time for people to show real leadership and to concentrate on peace on both sides, but the road ahead is very rocky, and I’m not that optimistic, but we have to be optimistic.”

Hannah Steinmetz said: “I’m really happy for the families of the hostages, but there are others, like two of my friends that I lost at the Nova festival, who won’t be coming back ever again. For me, as a friend, that is hard enough, but for their families, today is a sad day.”

She said she had “mixed feelings” about “all the terrorists coming out [as part of the deal] as they are capable of doing another 7th October, God forbid. I don’t think we should be negotiating with terrorists to begin with. We need to let all the hostages out and get rid of all the terrorists.”

Hannah Steinmetz (Photo: Gaby Wine)

Campaigner Mel Garfield told the JC: “It’s been an extremely emotionally charged day today. I’m so pleased that the three girls have been released as we’ve been advocating for Emily for a long time, being a British hostage and a Spurs fan, and we just hope that all the rest of the hostages come home.”

Commenting on the images of the released hostages being transferred into Red Cross trucks in Gaza, Mel said: “We hate seeing Hamas terrorists surrounding the girls in their vans, and I hope the West now wakes up to see what we’ve had to deal with on a daily basis. We just want them all home now.”

Damian Tash, who was instrumental in organising the solidarity campaigns for Emily at the Spurs’ Stadium, said: “It’s been a hugely emotional day, lots of ups and downs. Finally seeing the pictures of the girls coming home was a sight I’d hope I’d see, though I wasn’t sure I would. It was the most incredible feeling, but we can’t forget that there are still 94 hostages there. We need to bring them all home.”

As to the what may come next in the region, Damian said: “We need to get rid of Hamas. We need to make sure that the terrorists never threaten Israel or the Jewish people again. I hope the West has finally realised, from seeing those pictures from Gaza today, that there is no famine.

“All the stuff they see is Hamas propaganda, and these are the people that we’re fighting. We need to finish the job, and we need to bring them all home and ensure that Israel, Israelis and Jews can live in peace.”

On October 7, 2023, over 1,200 people were murdered in southern Israel by Hamas terrorists and and a further 250 men, women and children were abducted into Gaza.