Emily Damari will return home: Her best friend came to be by her side – and they were abducted together
Her family maintained a low media profile
Emily Tehila Damari, 28, from Kfar Aza, is one of the three hostages to be released today (Sunday) in the first phase of the hostage deal. Emily was abducted from her home in the "Dor Tzair" neighborhood on Oct. 7, along with her best friend Gali Berman, who came to be by her side when she was alone and afraid.
Emily, known among her friends as "everyone's friend," holds dual citizenship – Israeli and British. During her captivity, hostages released in the previous deal testified that they saw her.
Last June, while in captivity, Emily's family and friends celebrated her birthday. The family, which maintained a low media profile throughout the period, requested from the public: "Anyone who is doing something for her, please share it on social media so her name reaches as many people as possible. We don't give interviews, so every awareness-raising effort is important to us."
A relative of Emily Damari, who holds British citizenship, told the BBC: "This has been 471 agonizing days, but especially 24 hours of extreme torment. All her mother Mandy wants to do is hug Emily, but she won’t believe it until she sees it happen."
The relative added: "Until she’s out, and Mandy can truly see that she's out, it won’t happen. There's still a long way ahead of us. The family has no idea in what condition they are, and there are other hostages who need to be freed and require humanitarian aid."
Kan.org.il is the Hebrew news website of the The Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation
