British-Israeli woman taken hostage during 7 October attack ‘still in the dungeon of Hamas’
The mother of a British-Israeli woman taken hostage by Hamas has called on the UK to help secure her release.
Mandy Damari said her 28-year-old daughter Emily was “still in hell” a year on from being taken from her apartment in Kfar Aza near the border with Gaza.
Her appeal was backed on Monday by Orly Goldschmidt, a spokeswoman for Israel‘s UK embassy, who told Sky News that Emily was “still in the dungeon of Hamas”.
She added: “We are asking for the international support, for the British support, to put pressure on Hamas to release her and the other 100 hostages.”
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It comes as Israel on Monday marks the first anniversary of the 7 October attacks, when 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage by Hamas fighters, according to Israeli officials.
Since then, more than 41,000 people in Gaza have died from Israeli attacks, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Speaking publicly about her daughter for the first time, Ms Damari told a rally in Hyde Park on Sunday that she feared her plight had been “forgotten”.
Mandy Damari with a poster showing her daughter Emily
She said: “One year has passed and she is still in hell. On the morning of 7 October, Emily was in her own apartment on Kfar Aza, our peaceful kibbutz, but that day Hamas turned our home into a place of terror.
“Sixty-four of our neighbours – men, women, children and elderly – were sadistically murdered, 19 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.
“My beautiful, charismatic daughter, with the cheeky smile, was shot and taken by force from her home.
“Her beloved dog Choocha, who was with her, was killed with a gunshot to the neck.”
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What happened on 7 October 2023
Emily’s current whereabouts are unknown but some of the more than 100 hostages who were freed last November, as part of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, reported at the time that she was still alive.
Ms Damari told the rally: “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.”
She added: “I ask of you all, and also the British government, do not let my daughter Emily Damari or the other innocent people held hostage continue to be tortured or even murdered.
“I implore those in power here to use every ounce of influence they have to advocate for the release of all the hostages, and to secure the release of their UK citizen.”
Emily Damari’s dog Choocha was said to have been shot dead when she was taken hostage
The 63-year-old also said her daughter, who has dual nationality, “adores” coming to visit the UK, which she described as her “second home across the sea”.
She described her personality as including a “British sense of humour with a dash of Israeli chutzpah thrown in for good measure”, and said she is a big fan of football team Tottenham Hotspur and British music stars such as Ed Sheeran.
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Ms Damari went to Downing Street last Monday to demand that the government do “everything in its power” to free Emily, and gave Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer a letter for him to pass on to her daughter if possible.
It said: “If it [the note] 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.”
Israel has approved a plan to capture all of the Gaza Strip and remain there for an unspecified length of time, Israeli officials say.
According to Reuters, the plan includes distributing aid, though supplies will not be let in yet.
The Israeli official told the agency that the newly approved offensive plan would move Gaza’s civilian population southward and keep humanitarian aid from falling into Hamas’s hands.
On Sunday, the United Nations rejected what it said was a new plan for aid to be distributed in what it described as Israeli hubs.
Israeli cabinet ministers approved plans for the new offensive on Monday morning, hours after it was announced that tens of thousands of reserve soldiers are being called up.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far failed to achieve his goal of destroying Hamas or returning all the hostages, despite more than a year of brutal war in Gaza.
Palestinian children struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza. Pic: AP
Officials say the plan will help with these war aims but it would also push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to southern Gaza, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis.
They said the plan included the “capturing of the strip and the holding of territories”.
It would also try to prevent Hamas from distributing humanitarian aid, which Israel says strengthens the group’s rule in Gaza.
The UN rejected the plan, saying it would leave large parts of the population, including the most vulnerable, without supplies.
It said it “appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic – as part of a military strategy”.
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IDF reservists call for end to war in Gaza
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More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed since the IDF launched its ground offensive in the densely-populated territory, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
It followed the deadly Hamas attacks on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw around 250 people taken hostage.
A fragile ceasefire that saw a pause in the fighting and the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners collapsed earlier this year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to retaliate against the Houthis and their Iranian “masters” after the group launched a missile attack on the country’s main international airport.
A missile fired by the group from Yemen landed near Ben Gurion Airport, causing panic among passengers in the terminal building.
“Attacks by the Houthis emanate from Iran,” Mr Netanyahu wrote on X. “Israel will respond to the Houthi attack against our main airport AND, at a time and place of our choosing, to their Iranian terror masters.”
Israeli police officers investigate the missile crater. Pic: Reuters
The missile impact left a plume of smoke and briefly halted flights and commuter traffic at the airport. Some international carriers have cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv for several days.
Four people were lightly wounded, paramedic service Magen David Adom said.
Air raid sirens went off across Israel and footage showed passengers yelling and rushing for cover.
The attack came hours before senior Israeli cabinet ministers were set to vote on whether to intensify the country’s military operations in the Gaza Strip, and as the army began calling up thousands of reserves in anticipation of a wider operation in the enclave.
Houthi military spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the group fired a hypersonic ballistic missile at the airport.
Iran’s defence minister later told a state TV broadcaster that if the country was attacked by the US or Israel, it would target their bases, interests and forces where necessary.
Israel’s military said several attempts to intercept the missile were unsuccessful.
Air, road and rail traffic were halted after the attack, police said, though it resumed around an hour later.
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Yemen’s Houthis have been firing missiles at Israel since its war with Hamas in Gaza began on 7 October 2023, and while most have been intercepted, some have penetrated the country’s missile defence systems and caused damage.
Israel has previously struck the group in Yemen in retaliation and the US and UK have also launched strikes after the Houthis began attacking international shipping, saying it was in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war with Hamas.
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