A BRITISH hostage freed from Gaza has insisted her scars “represent freedom and hope” as she marks one year since her release today.
Emily Damari, 29, endured 471 days in Hamas terror tunnels and lost two fingers when she was shot in the hand as she was abducted on October 7.
Spurs fan Emily – who has dual British-Israeli nationality – gave a defiant salute with her bullet-ravaged hand as she was finally freed on January 19 last year as part of a ceasefire deal.
In a message shared with The Sun celebrating a year since her release, brave Emily said she now chooses to “live louder, stronger and prouder”.
Emily, who grew up in South East London, said: “Today marks one full year since I walked free – since I stepped out of that dark nightmare and back into the light, wrapped in our Israeli flag, raising my hand high as a sign that they could never break me.
“One year ago, after 471 days in the dark – 471 days of pain, of tunnels, of holding on with everything I had – I came back to life.
“I hugged my mum, I breathed real air, I saw the sun without fear. That moment, that first real breath of freedom, still hits me every single day.
“My scars tell the story. The hand missing two fingers, the marks on my leg – they aren’t just wounds.
“To me, they represent freedom, hope, and unbreakable strength. I chose not to be a victim then, and I choose every day to live louder, stronger, prouder now.”
Emily was shot in the hand and suffered shrapnel wounds to the leg when she was snatched from Kfar Aza kibbutz during Hamas’ horror massacre on October 7, 2023.
Ed Sheeran fan Emily – who moved to Israel in her 20s – was among the first three captives to be freed from a list of 33 over a six-week period.
Dramatic footage showed her surrounded by masked gun-toting terrorists as she got out of the van alongside fellow Israeli captives Romi Gonen and Doron Steinbrecher.
Emily was pictured beaming as she reunited with Surrey-born nursery teacher mum Mandy.
In the 12 months since she toasted her freedom, Emily became a prominent voice advocating for the remaining hostages while recovering from her physical injuries.
She added: “This year has been about healing, about rebuilding, about laughing again, loving again, and fighting for every single person still waiting to come home.
“I’ve celebrated the release of my dearest friends Gali and Ziv, danced with them, cried with them – because only when they were free did, I truly feel completely free.
“To everyone who chanted my name, who held signs at Tottenham games and at rallies and vigils, who prayed, who never gave up – thank you. You brought me home”
Courageous Emily also encouraged fellow activists to continue fighting for “the one left behind” in Gaza.
Despite all living hostages being freed, the remains of slain captive Ran Gvili remain in Hamas’ clutches.
“We don’t stop until every hostage is back, every family whole,” Emily said.
“Am Yisrael Chai [The People of Israel Live]. One year free – and I’m only getting started.”
It comes after Donald Trump vowed the US is doing “everything we can” to secure the release of the final Gaza hostage.
The parents of Ran Gvili accompanied the Israeli PM to Florida to meet Trump late in December.
Sergeant Gvili was taken hostage and later died after bravely fighting Hamas terrorists on October 7 despite being off work at the time with a broken shoulder due to a motorbike crash.
Trump is reportedly frustrated at the sluggish progress of the peace process he brokered in October, as it can’t move to stage two until all 48 remaining hostages, including 28 bodies, are returned.
The next stage involves Hamas disarming and international peacekeepers being deployed.
All but one are now home, with the remains of anti-terror cop Ran Gvili, 24, still hidden somewhere in the Gaza tunnels.
The US president went on to warn Iran that the US will “knock the hell” out of the regime if it tries to rearm.
Ran’s mum Talik, 55, pleaded with all sides to stick to the deal.
She previously told The Sun: “We will not give up until Rani comes home and my message to the politicians is simple – don’t forget my son.
“I have to have faith that Donald Trump will do the right thing and I am praying all the time that he will.”
What happened on October 7?
ON October 7 2023, militants of Hamas and other Palestinian nationalist groups launched co-ordinated armed attacks in the Gaza Envelope of southern Israel.
The perpetrators had managed to bypass Israeli defences to para-glide across the border, in what became the first invasion of the territory since the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
The horror coincided with the Jewish celebration of Simchat Torah, and initiated the ongoing Israel-Hamas War.
A barrage of around 4,300 rockets were launched on Israel from the Gaza Strip in the early hours of October 7 before vehicles and powered paragliders crossed the border.
The Hamas fighters attacked military bases and massacred civilians in 21 communities, including Be’eri, Kfar Aza, Nir Oz, Netiv Haasara, and Alumim.
The first civilian attack started at 6.29am at the Nova Music Festival site at Re’im, just three miles from Gaza.
More than 360 revellers were cut down as they desperately tried to flee.
Across October 7, an estimated 1,139 people were massacred and another 250 civilians and soldiers were taken hostage into Gaza.
