What was in the Hamas ‘gift bags’ given to freed Israeli women?
Hostage Emily Damari is reunited with her mother, Mandy, 19 January 2025
The New Arab reports on 20 January 2025:
Three Israeli women captives released from Gaza by Hamas as part of the hostage exchange deal on Sunday were handed what appeared to be “gift bags” by fighters from the Palestinian movement on Sunday.
Hamas released a video showing the three captives – Doron Steinbrecher, Emily Damari and Romi Gonen – being given paper bags, which were said to contain mementos from their time held in captivity in Gaza.
In the video, the women are seen smiling and cracking jokes with their captors who handed them the so-called ‘gift bags’ mostly off-screen through the window of a vehicle.
The bags were emblazoned with the logo of the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas.
The captives, still smiling, hold up the brown bags that reportedly contained “gifts and souvenirs” to mark their release.
Footage shows that at least one item in the bags was a special certificate, again bearing the logo of the Al-Qassam Brigades, titled ‘Release Agreement’ in both Hebrew and Arabic, with Israeli media reporting that the document was signed by the Red Cross at the moment of handover.
Israeli media reported that the bags also contained photos of the hostages while they were in captivity, a map of the Gaza Strip, and Palestinian flag necklaces.