British-Israeli national Emily Damari says she “came back to life” in her first comments since being released from captivity in Gaza.
The 28-year-old was shot in the hand and dragged from her home in southern Israel on 7 October 2023.
She was one of the first three hostages to be released on Sunday, after spending 471 days in captivity, as part of the long-awaited ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
In an Instagram post published following her release, Emily also wrote “I love, I love, I 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 was able to see some of the reaction on Sunday to her release, saying “that affected my heart”.
At the bottom of the message, Emily includes a hand emoji with two of the fingers curled. She lost two fingers after being shot in the hand during her capture.
Her release – alongside that of Romi Gonen, 24, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31- was the first of several due to take place over the next six weeks – if the ceasefire holds. In exchange, 90 Palestinian prisoners were released.
The hostage releases will continue until a total of 33 have been returned and about 1,900 Palestinians have been freed in exchange.
Emily’s family were told in March 2024 she was still alive but had been given no information about her condition since.
On Monday her mother Mandy, who has spent that time campaigning for her release, told a news conference Emily was in “high spirits”.
Speaking at Sheba Hospital, where Emily is being treated, she said her daughter was an “amazingly strong and resilient young woman” before thanking those who contributed to her release.
She also called for people to “keep on fighting for the remaining 94 hostages who need to come home”.
In an earlier statement Mrs Damari said she was happy that during Emily’s release “the world was given a glimpse of her feisty and charismatic personality”.
“Yesterday, I was finally able to give Emily the hug that I have been dreaming of,” Mrs Damari said.
She added that “these are still early days” and that “she now needs time with her loved ones and her doctors as she begins her road 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 programme he was both “pleased and delighted” and “very emotional” to hear Emily’s words, following her release – having grown close to her family throughout their ordeal.
Lammy added that it was important to recognise there were still hostages being held and that British nationals, such as Nadav Popplewell, have died.
Adam Rose, a lawyer representing hostage families including Emily’s, said that she “seemed to be radiating joy” but that her release will be both a “moment of elation and further torture and trepidation for families of other hostages who haven’t come out”.
Among those still in captivity are other people with close ties to the UK. They include Eli Sharabi, who was taken hostage during the attacks of 7 October 2023 in which his wife and two daughters were killed.
It is not known if he is still alive, with 34 of the hostages still held by Hamas presumed dead. His brother, Yossi, was also taken hostage and was later killed in captivity, which Hamas said was the result of an Israeli airstrike.
The fate of Oded Lifschitz, the 84-year-old father of UK-Israeli citizen Sharone Lifschitz, is also still unknown. Her mother Yocheved, Oded’s wife of many years, was freed more than a year ago as part of an earlier hostage release deal.
Describing her feelings as she waits for news of her father, Sharone told the BBC’s Woman’s Hour programme: “I’m OK. We have got so used, since 7 October, [to a] mix of joy and absolute horror and pain.”
She said seeing the three women released on Sunday was “pure joy”, adding that while she knew there was “much more heartache to come”, moments where families were reunited were “wonderful”.
Avinatan Or, whose mother is a British-Israeli citizen, was kidnapped from the Supernova music festival along with his girlfriend, Noa Argamani. She was rescued from central Gaza in June 2024 and revealed that they had been separated during the abduction.
