“I’m back to life,” says the freed British-Israeli hostage

British-Israeli citizen Emily Damari says she is “back to life” in her first comments since being freed from captivity in Gaza.

The 28-year-old was shot in the arm and dragged from her home in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

She was one of the first three hostages to be freed on Sunday after spending 471 days in captivity as part of the long-awaited ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.

In an Instagram post published after her release, Emily also wrote, “I love, love, love” and thanked God, her family and “the closest friends I have in this world.”

According to a translation of the message, which is in Hebrew, she also suggested she was able to see some of the reaction Sunday to her release, saying “it touched my heart.”

At the bottom of the message, Emily included a hand emoticon with two fingers curled up. She lost two fingers after being shot in the hand during her capture.

Her release – along with that of Romi Gonen, 24, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31 – was the first of several to take place over the next six weeks – if the ceasefire holds. In exchange, 90 Palestinian prisoners were released.

The release of hostages will continue until a total of 33 are returned and around 1,900 Palestinians are released in exchange.

In March 2024 Emily’s family was told she was still alive, but had not been given an update on her condition since then.

On Monday, her mother Mandy, who has spent that time campaigning for her release, told a news conference that Emily was in “high spirits”.

Speaking at Sheba Hospital, where Emily is being treated, she said her daughter was an “amazingly strong and resilient young woman” before thanking those who had contributed to her release.

She also urged people to “continue to fight for the remaining 94 hostages who must return home.”

In an earlier statement, Ms Damari said she was delighted that during Emily’s release “the world was able to glimpse her brave and charismatic personality”.

“Yesterday I finally got to hug the Emily I’ve been dreaming of,” Ms Damari said.

She added that “it’s still early days” and that she “now needs time with her loved ones and her doctors as she begins her road to recovery.”

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the release of the three hostages was “wonderful and long overdue”.

Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary David Lammy told BBC Radio 4’s Today program that he was both “pleased and delighted” and “very emotional” to hear Emily’s words after her release – as she had grown closer to her family during the ordeal them

Lammy added that it was important to recognize that there were still hostages being held and that British citizens such as Nadav Popplewellhave died.

Adam Rose, a lawyer representing families of hostages including Emily’s, said she “seemed to be radiating joy” but that her release would be both “a moment of elation and additional anguish and trepidation for the families of other hostages who did not have come out”.

Among those still in captivity are others with close links to the UK. They include Eli Sharabiwho was taken hostage during the October 7, 2023 bombings that killed his wife and two daughters.

It is not known if he is still alive, with 34 of the hostages still being held by Hamas believed to be dead. His brother Yossi was also taken hostage and later killed in captivity, in what Hamas says was the result of an Israeli airstrike.

The fate of Oded Lifshitz, the 84-year-old father of British-Israeli citizen Sharon Lifshitz, is also still unknown. Her mother Jocheved, Oded’s long-time wife, was released over a year ago as part of an earlier deal to release hostages.

Describing her feelings while waiting for news about her father, Sharon told the BBC’s Woman’s Hour: “I’m fine. We’ve been so used since October 7 (to) a combination of joy and absolute terror and pain.”

She said it was “pure joy” to see the three women freed on Sunday, adding that while she knew there was “much more heartache” to come, the moments when families were reunited were “lovely” .

Avinatan Orr, whose mother is a British-Israeli citizen, was abducted from the Supernova music festival along with his girlfriend Noa Argamani. She was rescued from central Gaza in June 2024. and revealed that they were separated at the time of the kidnapping.