Israeli officials have called for international backing to help free the only British hostage still being held in Gaza, as her mother said she had been ‘forgotten’.
The country’s UK embassy urged more pressure on Hamas to release 28-year-old British-Israeli citizen Emily Damari, on today’s one-year anniversary of the terror group’s attacks which killed 1,200 people.
Ms Dagari is among 100 captives still being detained by Hamas following the rampage which included targeting the Nova music festival in Israel last October 7.
Her mother Mandy Damari, a 63-year-old nursery school teacher from south London, has also made a public appeal to raise awareness of her daughter’s plight.
And she has written to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer begging for him to assist in bringing back Emily, who was abducted that day from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, near Israel’s border with Gaza.
A spokeswoman for Israel‘s UK embassy today urged the international community to do more to influence Hamas into releasing Emily and the other hostages.
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.’
‘We’re talking about a festival that was here for people from all around the world – Israelis, Muslims and other faiths.
‘They came to celebrate love and to dance, and they were targeted by Hamas terrorists in such a brutal way that I think no one will ever forget.’
When asked whether the Israeli military could have arrived sooner on the day, she said: ‘I understand the trauma of those families, and that’s something that will be investigated.
‘All I can say for now is that we mourn with those families and our thoughts are with them.’
She was speaking the day after Mandy Damari addressed a memorial event in Hyde Park, central London, yesterday ahead of today’s anniversary.
Mandy described how Emily ‘seems to have been forgotten’, in her first public speech following last October’s atrocity.
She described how her ‘charismatic daughter’ was ‘shot and taken by force from our home’ before being blindfolded and bundled into her own car with two friends.
Hostages released in the November truce told Mandy how her daughter showed ‘bravery and courage’ in captivity, singing ‘It’s a Great Morning’ every morning ‘despite the darkness’.
Ms Damari described how her daughter, who has dual British-Israeli nationality, ‘adored coming to visit her family’ in Britain, having grown up in Israel.
‘She had the classic British sense of humour with a dash of Israeli chutzpah thrown in for good measure.’
Emily grew up as a Tottenham Hotspur fan, visiting the Premier League club’s ground not long before her capture – and also enjoyed British music including Ed Sheeran and ‘loved going to the pub’.
Her mother said: ‘For her, that was England, and she loved her second home across the sea and always looked forward to coming here. Now all of that joy and that light is locked away.’
Emily was in her own flat in the kibbutz when Hamas led an incursion into southern Israel, killing some 1,205 people and taking 251 hostage.
Ms Damari told the Hyde Park crowd yesterday: ‘Hamas turned our own home into a place of terror – 64 of our neighbours, men, women, children and elderly, were sadistically murdered.
‘Nineteen 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.’
Ms Damari said her daughter was shot in the hand as Hamas gunmen descended on the kibbutz, with her ‘beloved’ pet dog Choocha killed by a gunshot to the neck.
She added: ‘Emily was taken, bleeding from her hand, to Gaza by Hamas Kukkba terrorists, who blindfolded her and forced her into her own car with two other friends, the twins, Gali and Ziv Berman.’
Ms Damari learned Emily was still alive during the November ceasefire deal last year, which brought the number of freed hostages up to 105.
She said: ‘I know from the women and children who came back last November, when the last ceasefire deal was reached, that Emily was alive.
‘They told me that some of them had met her while they were being moved around, some for short periods, some for longer.
‘But they all told me about her bravery and courage and even her laughter and the way she helped hold everyone together even in the worst times.
‘One even said she sang a song every morning called “Boker shel kef”, which means “It’s a great morning”, despite the darkness.
‘How is it that she is still imprisoned there after one year? 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.
‘I know we could and should be doing more. I, and everyone else, have failed her and the only way to make us all feel whole again is to get Emily and all the 101 hostages back to their families.’
In a separate video appeal released last night, Ms Damari said: ‘I would like to feel that the British public were behind her and the British government were behind her and they were saying there was a British hostage held captive in the terror tunnels by Hamas in Gaza.
‘I want them to know that she’s there and to advocate for her release, unconditionally and immediately, as she’s a young woman who knows what’s happening to her.
‘If there’s a way to put her on social media and see her out there, remind people that she’s there – make sure she’s not forgotten.
‘She’s my daughter – I love her, I love her to the moon and back, as I always say, and there’s no way I’m giving up on her. That’s my job now, to get my daughter back, alive.’
Emily is believed to still be held in Hamas tunnels under Gaza.
Ms Damari paid tribute to the other families still desperately awaiting news about their loved ones still held in Gaza.
She said: ‘Each one of the hostages is someone’s child, grandchild, parent or grandparent, of many different nationalities and religions.
‘They are real people with real families just like yours and mine. What would you do if your loved ones were held there? They are not just names or faces you see on a poster that you may or may not forget.
‘They need to be released – the ones still living to be returned to their families and homes, and ones murdered returned for a respectful burial.’
In the months since her daughter was taken hostage, Ms Damari has been campaigning for the British government to do more to secure her release.
Last Monday she travelled to Downing Street to demand the British government do everything in their power to lobby for the release of the remaining hostages.
In a desperate effort to contact her daughter, she handed over a note for the Prime Minister entitled ‘Letter for Emily’ and asked him to try to deliver it for her.
The letter, seen by , reads: ‘Dear Emily. I hope this note gets to when you are alive and home with me, Abba [Daddy] and all your family. And you’ll see that we are all alive.
‘If it gets to you in Gaza know that we all love you and miss you and are sick with worry about what is happening to you every day and we are praying and meeting whoever we can to get you back home.
‘Please keep strong, keep praying and just be your beautiful self that I love to the moon and back. You will come home. And I promise that I’ll never complain again about your perfume sticking to me when you’re home.
‘Love you so much Your Mum (who is always right!)’
Hamas began its sudden incursion into southern Israel on October 7, bringing armed men with cars, motorcycles and paragliders across the border as salvoes of rockets tried to overwhelm the Iron Dome.
The group, serving as the de facto governing authority in Gaza, justified its attack as a response to what it called Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people.
In retaliation, Israel began a devastating offensive into the Gaza Strip with infantry, armour and artillery to return the hostages and oust Hamas.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has faced scrutiny from the international community for the loss of civilian life in Gaza, and domestically from the families of hostages urging a ceasefire to ensure their safe return.
In Gaza, at least 41,870 people have been killed and 97,166 wounded in Israeli attacks since October 2023, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
In a new statement marking the one-year anniversary of Hamas’ attacks on Israel, Sir Keir has described October 7 last year as ‘the darkest day in Jewish history since the Holocaust’.
He said: ‘One year on, we stand together to remember the lives so cruelly taken.
‘As a father, a husband, a son, a brother – meeting the families of those who lost their loved ones last week was unimaginable. Their grief and pain are ours, and it is shared in homes across the land.
‘A year on, that collective grief has not diminished or waned.
‘Yet their strength and determination to cherish the memories of those they had lost continues, and our determination to bring those still captive home endures.
‘I stand firm in our commitment to bring the hostages home, and we will not give up until they are returned.
‘One year on from these horrific attacks we must unequivocally stand with the Jewish community and unite as a country. We must never look the other way in the face of hate.
‘We must also not look the other way as civilians bear the ongoing dire consequences of this conflict in the Middle East.
‘I reiterate my call for immediate ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon, and for the removal of all restrictions on humanitarian aid into Gaza.
‘We will not falter in our pursuit of peace and on this day of pain and sorrow, we honour those we lost, and continue in our determination to return those still held hostage, help those who are suffering, and secure a better future for the Middle East.’
Dear Emily,
I hope this note gets to you when you are alive and home with me , abba and all your family. And you’ll see that we are all alive.
If it gets to you in Gaza know that we all love you and miss you and are sick with worry about what is happening to you every day and we are praying and meeting whoever we can to get you back home.
Please keep strong, keep praying and just be your beautiful self that I love to the moon and back. You will come home. And I promise that I’ll never complain again about your perfume sticking to me when you’re home.
Love you so much
Your Mum (who is always right!)