Emily Damari shares unreleased hostage photos, says surviving Hamas captivity was a miracle

Emily Damari, who was kidnapped on October 7, 2023, and survived Hamas captivity in Gaza, shared previously unreleased photos from her time as a hostage on Instagram on Saturday, marking three years since her abduction on the Hebrew calendar.

"Three years ago at this time on Simchat Torah I was deep, deep in the Gaza Strip," Damari wrote in her post.

She described her experience at Shifa Hospital in Gaza, seen in the pictures she posted shortly after her abduction, where she was treated for a gunshot wound in her hand and a shrapnel injury in her leg. Ultimately, Damari had two fingers amputated. She also had additional surgery on her hand after her release in early 2025.

"I'm in a disgusting room full of blood; there is a corpse on the floor next to me. A 'doctor' approaches and introduces himself as Dr. Hamas, [accompanied by] ten more monsters with Kalashnikovs [pointed] at my head," Damari wrote.

"People who know a little bit about medicine can understand from the pictures that the fact that I'm here today is a miracle," she added. "For four months, my leg continued to bleed...[I had stitches] meant to be removed after two weeks that stayed in my hand for a full year, and here I am."

In previous social media posts and media appearances, Damari has explained that her leg wound was improperly stitched, which is why it continued to bleed after initial treatment.

"When I woke up, ‘Dr. Hamas’ told me I had lost two fingers, and my leg wound was left open with only four stitches instead of sixteen,” she said in March 2025 after receiving corrective surgery on her hand. 

Former Gaza hostage Emily Damari marries partner Dani Amit in Tel Aviv wedding celebration

In August, Damari married her partner, Israeli food influencer Danielle “Dani” Amit, in a wedding celebration in Tel Aviv.

The couple had gotten engaged in January 2026, one year after Damari was released from Hamas captivity.

"For 471 days, she was held in captivity," Damari's mother, Mandy, said during the celebration. "And during those endless days and nights, there were moments when the thought of standing here tonight, seeing my daughter alive, safe, happy, and standing beside the person she loves, would have been impossible to imagine."

The couple was joined by numerous other former hostages at the wedding, including Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher, Liri Albag, Danielle Gilboa, Omer Shem Tov, Keith and Aviva Siegal, and Gali and Ziv Berman.