British-Israeli national Emily Damari says she has “come back to life” in her first comments since being released from captivity in Gaza.
The 28-year-old was shot in the arm and dragged from her home in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
She was one of the first three hostages who were released on Sunday after 471 days in captivity, as part of the long-awaited ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
In an Instagram post released after the release, Emily also wrote “I love, love, love” and thanked God, her family and “the closest friends I have in this world.”
According to a translation of the message, which is in Hebrew, she also suggests she could see some of the reaction Sunday to its release, saying “it affected my heart.”
At the bottom of the message, Emily includes a hand emoticon with two bent fingers. She lost two fingers after being shot in the hand during the capture.
Her release – along with that of Romi Gonen, 24, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31 – was the first of several expected to take place over the next six weeks – if the ceasefire holds. In exchange, 90 Palestinian prisoners were released.
The release of the hostages will continue until a total of 33 hostages are returned and around 1,900 Palestinians are released in exchange.
Emily’s family were told in March 2024 that she was still alive, but have not received any information on her condition since then.
Her mother Mandy, who spent that time campaigning for her release, said in a statement that her daughter was doing much better than expected after her release.
She said she was happy that during Emily’s release, “the world got a glimpse of her feisty and charismatic personality.”
“Yesterday I was finally able to hug the Emily I’d dreamed of,” Ms. Damari said.
“From the bottom of my heart, I would like to thank the many people who played a role in bringing Emily home and supported me and my family.”
She added that “as wonderful as it is to see Emily’s resilience, it’s still early days” and that she “needs time with her loved ones and doctors now as she begins her journey to recovery.”
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the release of the three hostages was “wonderful and long overdue”.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy, meanwhile, told BBC Radio 4’s Today program that he was both “delighted and delighted” and “very emotional” to hear Emily’s words after her release – having grown close to the family during their ordeal.
Lammy added that it is important to recognize that there are still hostages and that British nationals such as Nadav Popplewelldied.
Adam Rose, a lawyer representing the families of the hostages, including Emily, said she “seemed like she was beaming with joy” but that her release would also be “a moment of elation and further torture and anxiety for the families of the other hostages who didn’t get out.” .
Among those still in captivity are other people with close ties to the UK. Among them is Eli Sharabiwho was taken hostage in the attacks on October 7, 2023, in which his wife and two daughters were killed.
It is not known if he is still alive, and the 34 hostages still held by Hamas are presumed dead. His brother, Yossi, was also taken hostage and later killed in captivity, in what Hamas said was the result of an Israeli airstrike.
The fate of Oded Lifschitz, the 84-year-old father of British-Israeli citizen Sharona Lifschitz, is also still unknown. Her mother Yocheved, Oded’s longtime wife, was released more than a year ago as part of an earlier deal to release the hostages.
Describing her feelings as she awaits news of her father, Sharone told the BBC’s Woman’s Hour: “I’m fine. We’ve gotten so used to it, since October 7, [to a] a mixture of joy and absolute horror and pain.”
She said seeing the three women freed on Sunday was “pure joy”, adding that while she knew there was “a lot more pain” to come, the moments when the families were reunited were “beautiful”.
Avinatan Or, whose mother is a British-Israeli citizen, was kidnapped from the Supernova music festival together with his girlfriend Noa Argamani. She was rescued from central Gaza in June 2024 and revealed that they had been separated during the abduction.
