They are in our hands. They are coming home, says the military's spokesperson Daniel Hagari according to Times of Israel.
An official from Hamas states that the next exchange of hostages and prisoners will take place on Saturday, according to AFP.
Mother Mandy Damari says in a statement that her daughter is home.
"I want to thank everyone who never stopped fighting for Emily throughout this terrible ordeal, and who never stopped mentioning her name . . . Thank you for bringing Emily home", she says and urges that all hostages be released.
Emily Damari's family reports that she lost two fingers in a shooting by Hamas on October 7, reports Haaretz.
When the three women's families received the news of the release, they jumped, screamed, and cried, according to a video clip shared by Israel's military.
Thousands celebrate
In Tel Aviv, thousands of people are also celebrating the release of the hostages.
The three women released are: Doron Steinbrecher, Romi Gonen, and Emily Damari.
31-year-old Doron Steinbrecher worked as a veterinary nurse and was captured in her apartment on Kibbutz Kfar Aza. Her sister Yamit has tattooed a half sun with the words "like the sun, we will rise again", and plans to fill in the remaining rays when her sister returns home, according to BBC.
28-year-old Emily Damari, who is British-Israeli, was taken from the same kibbutz. Hostages released in November last year have said they had contact with her in captivity.
24-year-old Romi Gonen was attacked when she tried to leave the Supernova festival, and was shot in the arm when she was taken.
Oldest and youngest
The Israeli government's press office has released a list of an additional 30 people from the hostages who are expected to be released during the first phase of the ceasefire. Next to it stands the sentence "We long for you to come home".
Among them are both the oldest and the youngest of the captives.
The entire Bibas family was taken. Brothers Kfir and Ariel were nine months and four years old, respectively, at the time of the abduction and are the only children among the hostages said to be remaining in Gaza. Mother Shiri Bibas and father Yarden Bibas are also expected to be released.
The oldest in the hostage group, 86-year-old Shlomo Mantzur, is also expected to be released.
