Held for 15 months, Emily Damari endured torture, amputation, and unthinkable conditions before release

Emily Damari, a 28-year-old British-Israeli, spent 15 harrowing months in Hamas captivity—her body permanently scarred, her spirit battered but unbroken. Kidnapped during the brutal 7 October 2023 attack, she was shot in the hand and leg as she was dragged from her home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, near Gaza’s border. The bullets shattered her bones, severing two fingers and leaving her with festering wounds that would remain untreated for over a year.

With no proper medical care, her captors handed her a single outdated bottle of iodine—a pitiful attempt to mask the excruciating agony of open, infected wounds. Forced to endure searing pain, she watched as her hand deteriorated, the injury becoming a constant, throbbing reminder of her captivity.

“The conditions were unimaginable,” Damari said, revealing the horrors endured by fellow hostages. “Some were barely alive when they were freed.” She described captives emaciated beyond recognition, their bodies ravaged by malnutrition and neglect. “Hamas has created hell on Earth,” she stated bluntly, calling for the immediate release of those still trapped.

During her time in Gaza, Damari was held at United Nations facilities—an allegation that has prompted calls for an independent investigation. Meanwhile, her mother, Mandy Damari, recounted the appalling medical procedures carried out on her daughter by her captors. “She was sewn up like a pin-cushion,” she said, astonished that Emily had escaped a fatal infection.

Upon her release as part of a fragile ceasefire deal, Damari was rushed to Israel’s Sheba Medical Center for urgent surgeries. Doctors worked tirelessly to repair the damage inflicted by both bullets and crude field treatment. “The operations went much better than expected,” she revealed, relieved that the relentless pain from her hand—caused by botched nerve stitching in Gaza—had finally subsided.

Despite the success of the procedures, her injuries will never fully heal. “I’ll never regain full function of my hand,” she admitted. Yet, rather than viewing her scars as marks of suffering, she chooses to see them as symbols of survival. “They represent freedom, hope, and strength,” she said, embracing the physical reminders of her ordeal.

Emily and her mother now plan to visit the UK, where she hopes to personally thank those who supported her fight for freedom. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has invited her to Downing Street, following a phone call in which she described the appalling conditions of her captivity.

As she begins the long road to recovery, her thoughts remain with the hostages still trapped in Gaza. “No one should have to go through what we did,” she said. “They must be freed now.”

The scars on her body will never fade, but neither will her message—one of unimaginable suffering, resilience, and a relentless demand for justice.