Freed British-Israeli hostage is ‘happiest person in the world’
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Emily Damari, released with two other hostages after 471 days in captivity, overjoyed after being reunited with family. A British-Israeli hostage freed from Hamas captivity in Gaza on Sunday has said she has “returned to life” and is the “happiest person in the world” after being reunited with her family.
![[Hamas militants gather around a vehicle as they hand over Emily Damari]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/c217d76a831020a9646986a2afa3c5e8d4a8cc81/0_185_5553_3332/master/5553.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
In her first comments since being freed, Emily Damari, 28, thanked her family and friends who campaigned for her release. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. I’m the happiest in the world,” she said in Hebrew on Instagram. Damari was freed after 471 days in captivity alongside two other Israeli hostages, Romi Gonen, 24, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, as part of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
![[Emily Damari (right) embraces her mother Mandy]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/82189f3a110153de9d66b6d32e53816e7484114c/0_402_6000_3599/master/6000.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
The Tottenham Hotspur fan who was born in Israel to a British mother and Israeli father returned from Gaza with a bandage on one hand. She lost two fingers when she was shot and abducted from her home in the Kfar Aza kibbutz during Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack.
Her mother, Mandy Damari, who was born in Surrey and grew up in Beckenham, south-east London, praised her daughter’s resilience. She was pictured embracing her at Tel Aviv’s Sheba Medical Center, where Gonen and Steinbrecher were also reunited with their families.
“Yesterday, I was finally able to give Emily the hug that I have been dreaming of,” Mandy Damari, 63, said on Monday. “From the bottom of my heart I would like to thank the many people who have played a role in bringing Emily home and given their support to me and my family.
