Brit who was shot and held hostage by Hamas praises 'good news' that her kidnapper has been killed by Israel and says 'there should be much more good news like this'
Ms Damari, 29, was taken from her home during Hamas' incursion into southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
She was held for 471 days as one of 251 hostages taken into the Palestinian enclave, before being released in January as part of a wider ceasefire agreement.
The Israeli military said this week that Muhammad Nasr Ali Quneita, who held Ms Damari hostage in his home at the start of the war, had been killed in an air strike.
'One of many, Ms Damari wrote on Instagram. 'Yes, there should be many more good news like this and we will hold them accountable for it all, God willing... [sic]'
She went on to call for the release of her fellow hostage still held in Gaza, writing: 'The real victory will be when Gali, Ziv and the other 48 hostages return.'
It is believed there are still 20 living captives still in the Palestinian enclave.
Negotiations for their release are still ongoing, with U.S. President Donald Trump set to meet Qatari prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani on Wednesday to discuss ceasefire proposals, Axios reports.
Israeli and Hamas negotiators have been taking part in the latest round of ceasefire talks in Doha since July 6, discussing a U.S.-backed proposal for a 60-day ceasefire that envisages a phased release of hostages, Israeli troop withdrawals from parts of Gaza and discussions on ending the conflict.
U.S., Qatari and Egyptian mediators have been working to secure an agreement, however, Israel and Hamas are divided over the extent of an eventual Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian enclave.
As diplomats work desperately towards a lasting ceasefire agreement, Israel continues to pound the beleaguered Gaza Strip with air strikes.
The IDF claimed to have killed Hamas' Muhammad Nasr Ali Quneita in an air strike in a post shared to social media on Monday.
'IDF & ISA [Shin Bet] eliminated Muhammad Nasr Ali Quneita, the Hamas terrorist who infiltrated Israel on Oct 7 and held Emily Damari hostage,' the military wrote on Twitter/X.
'Quneita was a terrorist in Hamas's Al-Furqan Battalions' military intelligence, who infiltrated Israel during the brutal Oct 7 massacre and held Emily Damari hostage in his home at the start of the war.'
The Hebrew language IDF account expanded, clarifying that Quneita was killed on June 19, 2025, in the Gaza City area.
'IDF and Shin Bet will continue to operate with force against the terrorists who took part in the murderous massacre on October 7,' it said.
Ms Damari recalled the day she was taken into Gaza.
'I remember his face that day when he transferred me to the tunnels deep beneath the ground,' she wrote. 'Where there's no air, no light, and no will to live. Above us, we could hear planes, bombs, and an entire war unfolding.
'Then he looked at me with the smile of a deceiver and told me "That's it, tomorrow you're going home."'
'He didn't say that because it was true. He said it so I would start to have hope. So I would wait and wait, and nothing would happen.
'I looked at him and told him he was a liar (and if you knew what it's like to tell a terrorist the word liar...).
'He looked at me angrily and asked, "Me? A liar? Why do you think that?"
'And I said to him, "Because I hear the planes. There's no ceasefire and no deal close."
'And sadly, between the two of us, I was right.'
Emily was in her home in Kibbutz Kfar Azza, two miles from the border with Gaza, when Hamas and affiliated groups stormed into Israel, according to her family.
Ms Damari, a Spurs fan, was born in Kfar Aza and lived on the kibbutz her whole life, but visited England regularly.
Gunmen entered the house on October 7 and shot her dog dead. The same bullet that killed her beloved pet hit her in the leg.
Emily was shot and left with 'severe injuries' before being blindfolded and kidnapped in the back of her own car.
She was then driven into Gaza and kept in captivity for more than a year, along with her friends Gali and Ziv.
She said she was then taken to Al Shifa Hospital and wheeled into an operating theatre beside a corpse.
A Palestinian medic walked in and told her: 'Hi, I'm Dr Hamas,' Emily revealed on Instagram.
She was operated on and woke up to be told 'that I no longer have two fingers, and the leg wound remains open with four stitches instead of 16'.
Fellow captive Romi Gonen, a trained medic, helped treat Emily's wound as they remained together for most of their 15 months in captivity.
Her mother, Mandy, from Beckenham, South East London, said it was a 'miracle' she didn't contract a life-threatening infection in the tunnels.
Romi and Emily were freed on January 19, 2025.
The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered in October 2023 when Hamas attacked Israel.
Israel says Hamas killed 1,200 and took about 250 hostages.
Gaza's health ministry says Israel's subsequent military assault has killed over 58,000 Palestinians.
It has also caused a hunger crisis, internally displaced Gaza's entire population and prompted accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice and of war crimes at the International Criminal Court. Israel denies the accusations.
A previous two month ceasefire ended when Israeli strikes killed more than 400 Palestinians on March 18.
Donald Trump earlier this year proposed a U.S. takeover of Gaza, which was condemned globally by rights experts, the U.N. and Palestinians as a proposal of 'ethnic cleansing.'
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