The sole British hostage still in Gaza a year after she was taken by Hamas has been “stripped of every human right” and remains “in hell”, her mother says.
The British-Israeli 28-year-old, an Ed Sheeran fan, London Zoo enthusiast, foodie and Spurs supporter, was among around 250 taken hostage in the October 7 attack a year ago.
Emily's mother Mandy Damari spoke at an event to commemorate the attack in London’s Hyde Park on Sunday.
She told the crowd through tears that her daughter Emily had been “stripped of every human right” and remains “in hell”.
Recalling her daughter's sense of classic British humour and “Israeli chutzpah”, she said Emily had had her “joy and light locked away”.
Ms Damari, from south London, said she went to Israel in her 20s and met her husband, fell in love and moved to a kibbutz where they raised four children and four grandchildren.
She highlighted “freedom” as a British ideal she had grown up with and a value that she instilled in her children and grandchildren – “freedom to think, to speak and to live fully” – but said her daughter was no longer free.
“Since October 7 last year, she has been held a hostage by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza terror tunnels, 20 metres or more underground, kept in captivity, tortured, isolated, unable to eat, speak or even move without someone else’s permission,” Ms Damari said.
She told the crowd: “One year has passed and she is still in hell.
“On the morning of October 7, Emily was in her own apartment on Kfar Aza, our peaceful kibbutz, but that day Hamas turned our home into a place of terror.
“Sixty-four of our neighbours – men, women, children and elderly – were sadistically murdered, 19 were kidnapped, 12 women were eventually released, two of our hostages were killed in friendly fire while trying to escape and five are still held in Gaza, including my Emily.
“My beautiful, charismatic daughter, with the cheeky smile, was shot and taken by force from her home.
“Her beloved dog Choocha, who was with her, was killed with a gunshot to the neck.”
Ms Damari said some of the hostages who were released as part of a temporary ceasefire deal last November told her her daughter was alive and spoke of her bravery and laughter and “the way she helped hold everyone together even in the worst times”.
“Why isn’t the whole world, especially Britain, fighting every moment to secure her release?
“She is one of their own but her plight seems to have been forgotten.
“My beautiful, funny and brave daughter, who I love to the moon and back, deserves to come home. I need to hug her again. I need to see her smile.
Around a third of the 101 hostages taken on October 7 and not yet returned are believed to be dead.
Some 1,200 Israelis were killed in the surprise attack, including attendees of a music festival and many living on kibbutzes. More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's subsequent war on Hamas in Gaza.
As people began to leave the event and make their way home, a small group of pro-Palestinian activists who had gathered at Speakers’ Corner began to shout “shame on you” and “live, live Palestine”.
One protester could be heard shouting “no-one wants you in the Middle East, go back home”.
The pro-Israeli side were seen shouting back as police formed a line between the two groups.
A spokeswoman for Israel’s UK embassy called for international pressure on Hamas to release Emily and the other captives.
Orly Goldschmidt told Sky News: “Emily Damari, 28-year-old British-Israeli citizen, is still in the dungeon of Hamas, and we are asking for the international support, for the British support, to put pressure on Hamas to release her and the other 100 hostages.”
Reporting by PA
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