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British hostage Emily Damari reunites with mum after 15-months as Hamas hostage
After 15 months of unimaginable torment, Emily Damari's return home is a beacon of hope amid a sea of despair in the Middle East. Her mother's tears of joy tell a story of love and resilience.
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Hamas hostage Emily Damari has tasted freedom after 15-months in hell with her sobbing mother declaring āsheās finally homeā.
The smiling British terror hostage was reunited with her beloved nursery teacher mum Mandy who had all but given up hope of seeing her alive again.
Emily was released by masked and gun-wielding Palestinian Hamas militants into the care of the Red Cross.
And just hours later beaming mum and daughter shared an emotional video call with Emilyās brother.
Overcome with emotion Mandy said: āAfter 471 days Emily is finally home.
"I want to thank everyone who never stopped fighting for Emily throughout this horrendous ordeal, and who never stopped saying her name. In Israel, Britain, the United States, and around the world. Thank you for bringing Emily home.ā
On a day of drama and tension Emily, 28, snatched by gun-toting jihadists from her home near the Gaza border on October 7, 2023, was finally freed as part of a ceasefire and prisoner swap deal with Israel.
The moving moment was the first time since the Hamas massacre the family had been together. The momentous reunion saw Mandy keep a promise made during their darkest hours.
Emily was holed up in a cramped Hamas terror tunnel deep inside Gaza after being grabbed by balaclava-clad terrorists from Kibbutz Kfar Aza and bundled over the border when Hamas launched its murder spree in Israel.
Her beloved golden cockapoo Choocha was shot dead while the bloody-thirsty rampage left her with a gunshot wound to the hand.
Footage of her release showed Emily stepping out of a van with a bandaged and strapped left hand but otherwise outwardly unscathed by her unimaginable ordeal.
Another picture appeared to show she had lost two fingers during her imprisonment at the hands of Hamas.
After she was snatched Mandy, 64, a nursery teacher, said: āIt is breaking my heart a little more, day by day. Soon there will be nothing left of my heart - or Emily.ā
She said: "While Emilyās nightmare in Gaza is over, for too many other families the impossible wait continues. Every last hostage must be released, and humanitarian aid must be provided to the hostages who are still waiting to come home."
Unable to process a motherās despair at being unable to help her stricken daughter, or unlock diplomatic efforts to do so, she resorted to penning a letter which she passed to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in the hope he might be able to act.
It read: āDear Emily. I hope this note gets to when you are alive and home with me, Abba (Hebrew for daddy) and all your family. And you'll see that we are all alive.
āIf it gets to you in Gaza know that we all love you and miss you and are sick with worry about what is happening to you every day and we are praying and meeting whoever we can to get you back home.
āPlease keep strong, keep praying and just be your beautiful self that I love to the moon and back. You will come home. And I promise that I'll never complain again about your perfume sticking to me when you're home.
āLove you so much. Your Mum (who is always right!).ā
The note never reached the dark, airless, subterranean tunnel in which she was hidden and until earlier today her fate was unknown until, after 15 months, darkness was filled with a shaft of light.
Emily was released alongside Doron Steinbrecher, 31, and Romi Gonen, 24.
Emily, the youngest of four siblings, was born and raised in Israel, and possessed an āunforgettable smile and cheeky, dry sense of humourā. She was described as the āconsummate daughter, sister, and friendā.
Mrs Damari was born in Surrey and grew up in Beckenham, Kent, before visiting Israel in her 20s. It was there she met Emily's father while volunteering.
Emily was one of five hostages with British connections for whom diplomats have been working around-the-clock to release. The others are Eli Sharabi, Oded Lifshitz, Avinatan Or and the body of Yossi Sharabi, whose death has been confirmed.
Hamas' armed wing said it will abide by the ceasefire agreement but warned it hinges on Israel's commitment.
In a video, al-Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Ubaida urged mediators to compel Israel to commit to the ceasefire deal, confirming the group would abide by all phases of the agreement and the timetable of the hostages-for-prisoners swap accord.
He said: "Everything is dependent on the commitment by the enemy. Violations from the side of the occupation (Israel) would put the process at risk.
"We are keen to succeed in all stages of the agreement, its details and timings to preserve the blood of our people and achieve their goals, and we urge the mediators to compel the enemy to abide by it.ā
The Israel Defence Forces said: "They [the three hostages] are in our hands, and they are on their way home."
Israel confirmed the names of 90 Palestinian prisoners - including women and children - released in exchange.
The October 7 attacks prompted Israel to unleash hellfire and fury on Hamas, its allies and proxies, and a promise from PM Benjamin Netanyahu to wipe the terror cell from the face of the earth.
As the world held its breath Jerusalem battered targets in Gaza and Lebanon as it tried to quell the āforces of barbarismā led by Iran and Hezbollah.
At least 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the incursion and about 250 hostages were taken over the border.
The ceasefire and prisoner swap agreement brokered by mediators the United States, Qatar and Egypt, has seen a pause in fighting and the release of hostages taken after the raid on southern Israel and the exchange of Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
The multi-stage deal will also see a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from parts of Gaza and the stepping up of humanitarian aid into the war-ravaged territory.
Sir Keir said: āBritish citizen Emily Damari will now be reunited with her family, including her mother Amanda who has never stopped her tireless fight to bring her daughter home.
"I wish them all the very best as they begin the road to recovery after the intolerable trauma they have experienced. We stand ready to offer assistance and support.
"However [today] was another day of suffering for those who haven't made it home yet - so while this ceasefire deal should be welcomed, we must not forget about those who remain in captivity under Hamas.
"We must now see the remaining phases of the ceasefire deal implemented in full and on schedule, including the release of those remaining hostages and a surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
āThe UK stands ready to do everything it can to support a permanent and peaceful solution."
Outgoing US President Joe Biden said: "After so much pain, destruction, loss of life the guns in Gaza have gone silent.
"The release of hostages is a result of a principled and effective policy that we've presided over for months. And we got it. We got here without a wider war in the Middle East that many predicted.ā
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