A British-Israeli woman who was kidnapped by Hamas and held hostage for 271 days in Gaza has undergone a series of operations for wounds she suffered on the day she was taken captive.
Emily Damari was at home on Kibbutz Kfar Aza on 7 October 2023 when Hamas launched its massacre in Israel, killing 62 residents in the community and kidnapping 19 others.
The 28-year-old was shot in her left hand and right leg at close range, causing her to lose two fingers and leaving her with injuries to her leg that impair her movement.
Speaking before a series of operations in Israel, she said: “I have fully embraced my hand, my pain, and my scars. To me they represent freedom, hope and strength.”
Ms Damari before her surgery. Pic: The Damari Family
Afterwards she said the surgery “went much better than expected”.
She added: “My recovery will take time and my hand will never fully recover, but the intense pain I had for a year and a half due to the nerves being sewn together after my first operation in Shifa Hospital in Gaza is now no longer with me and the large scar, that was caused by an open, festering wound that did not heal for four months because of the conditions of the tunnels I was held in, is now looking better.
“After my recuperation, with the help of physiotherapy, I hope to be able to use my hand much more effectively than was previously possible, before the surgery.”
An X-ray of Ms Damari’s injured hand. Pic: The Damari Family
Ms Damari’s mother, Mandy Damari, said her daughter had been “sewn up like a pin cushion” by Hamas, leaving her with significant pain in her hand and leg.
She said Hamas did not provide any medical aid except for an out-of-date bottle of iodine during her daughter’s time in captivity.
“It is nothing short of a miracle that she did not contract a life-threatening infection,” she added.
Ms Damari said she was kept in Hamas’s network of underground tunnels with no sanitation or access to clean water.
“It was shocking but not surprising to see how emaciated some of the other hostages were when they came out. Hamas has created hell on Earth, the conditions down there are unimaginable,” she added.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has invited Ms Damari and her mother to visit No 10 on their next visit to the UK and fans of her favourite football club Tottenham Hotspur have offered her matchday tickets.
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Read more: Gaza ceasefire explained
Some 1,200 people were killed in the Hamas attack in Israel on 7 October 2023, with 251 people taken hostage into Gaza.
It sparked Israel’s invasion of the enclave, which has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians – according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count – and displaced almost all of its 2.3 million population, leaving Gaza a vast wasteland.
The ceasefire deal has seen Hamas hand over 33 Israeli hostages as well as five Thais in exchange for 2,000 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from some parts of Gaza. Some 59 hostages remain in Gaza.
