Brit’s final selfie along with her greatest buddy… moments earlier than terrorists dragged them to hell in Gaza: Emily Damari reveals heartbreaking photograph taken on October 7 as she fights to free her buddies from Hamas captivity
Freed British hostage Emily Damari today shares the last picture of her and her best friend before they were kidnapped as she fights for him and his twin brother’s safe return.
The Tottenham Hotspur fan is seen making the peace sign while hunkered in a bomb shelter with Gali Berman as Hamas terrorists stormed their kibbutz.
She had texted Gali telling him she was scared in the early hours of October 7, 2023, as the terrorists launched a massive rocket attack.
Despite the risk of bombs falling, he ran to her, telling his family: ‘Emily’s alone, I’ve got to go to be with her.’
They shared the picture with their families to reassure them they were ok – but it was the last picture ever seen of them together.
Moments later terrorists breached the shelter in Kfar Aza. Hamas killed Emily’s dog, shot her in the hand and leg, and dragged them both into Gaza along with Ziv, Gali’s twin brother, on October 7, 2023.
A Palestinian doctor calling himself ‘Dr Hamas’ then carelessly stitched the nerves in Emily’s hand together leaving her in endless pain for over 15 months in captivity.
But while Emily, 28, was finally freed in January, Gali and his twin brother Ziv, both 27, remain cruelly in captivity in the Gaza Strip.
Freed British hostage Emily Damari today shares the last picture of her and her best friend Gali Berman (pictured top) before they were kidnapped as she fights for him and his twin brother’s safe return
Emily (left) had texted Gali telling him she was scared in the early hours of October 7, 2023, as the terrorists launched a massive rocket attack. Despite the risk of bombs falling, he ran to her, telling his family: ‘Emily’s alone, I’ve got to go to be with her’
British-Israeli Emily Damari, who was freed after being a hostage of Hamas for 15 months in Gaza, is pictured above holding a Tottenham Hotspur scarf
Sharing this haunting selfie for the first time with international media, the British-Israeli told the Mail: ‘My heart has been heavy for 534 days and 76 Saturdays.
‘Gali and Zivi – the dear twins, my soulmates, are still hostages in Gaza. I vow we will not stop until they return home. Until they do, our fight is not over.’
This month, the Berman family received the first sign of life for the twins since the first hostage deal in November 2023.
It gave renewed hope as a fragile ceasefire deal continued to hold, which would see them freed and reunited with Emily.
But last week the war resumed in a terrifying development. Now Emily, who is battling to recover from serious wounds to her hand and leg, has released this powerful image as she does everything in her power to fight to bring them both back home.
Her mother Mandy, 63, said: ‘I know no-one braver than my daughter who despite everything – despite the horrors, despite the pain – still smiles. She still laughs.
‘But please don’t mistake her laughter for healing, because no matter how much she fights to reclaim her life she feels incomplete.
‘She cannot be whole again until Gal and Ziv who were taken with her to Gaza – and all the other hostages – are home.’
While Emily, 28, was finally freed in January, Gali and his twin brother Ziv, both 27, remain cruelly in captivity in the Gaza Strip
This month, the Berman family received the first sign of life for the twins since the first hostage deal in November 2023. It gave renewed hope as a fragile ceasefire deal continued to hold, which would see them freed and reunited with Emily
Gali and Ziv’s oldest brother Liran, 37, is also doing all he can to bring the twins (pictured) home
Mrs Damari added: ‘Now, as this war rages on, as Gaza is bombed again, the hostages remain in constant danger. Wake up world. We must bring them home, not tomorrow, not next week – now.’
It comes after her daughter rallied tens of thousands of football fans at a Maccabi Tel Aviv football match last week to join her fight to free Gali, Ziv, and the remaining hostages.
With her wounded fingers in a sling, Emily addressed supporters in the stadium while on the pitch with a microphone and screamed: ‘Come sing with me!
‘All of us together, so loudly that they can hear us all the way in the tunnels of Gaza!’
It prompted the whole crowd to explode into a deafening chorus of the team’s official song.
Gali and Ziv’s oldest brother Liran, 37, is also doing all he can to bring the twins home.
He told the Mail: ‘Seeing Emily come home brought me such overwhelming joy. But it was bittersweet because, with the joy, there was deep sadness and disappointment that my little brothers are still captives.
‘The sign of life gave us a lot of hope. For over a year, we fought with the belief that they were alive, but now we are fighting with the knowledge and certainty that they are.
Now Emily, who is battling to recover from serious wounds to her hand and leg, has released this powerful image as she does everything in her power to fight to bring them both back home
Emily rallied tens of thousands of football fans at a Maccabi Tel Aviv football match last week to join her fight to free Gali, Ziv, and the remaining hostages
‘But the ending of the ceasefire has got me and my family even more afraid and worried for their wellbeing.
‘Every minute of every day since October 7, I am afraid. No-one in Israel wants war, especially when there are still 59 hostages in Gaza – we know that 24 of them are alive including my little brothers.’
Liran, who worked caring for special needs adults before the war, called on the international community to help bring both sides back to the negotiating table.
He said: ‘My message to the world is that it needs to help us bring Ziv and Gali and all the hostages back home. The world needs to pressure Qatar and Turkey and Egypt and Iran to make Hamas release the hostages.
‘The world needs to pressure Hamas to let the Red Cross visit, treat and see the conditions of the Hostages.
‘The Red Cross hasn’t met one hostage in the tunnels. We need the world help to end this.’
