Shot, Caged, Starved: Hostage’s Horrific Story After 13 Months in Gaza Tunnels
Emily Damari, freed after 13 months in Hamas captivity, revealed the brutal conditions of cages and tunnels in Gaza, urging immediate action to rescue 50 remaining hostages. Her account, coupled with pleas from families and leaders, underscores the dire need for a deal to end the crisis.
Emily Damari, a former hostage freed in January 2025 after 13 months in Hamas captivity, detailed her harrowing ordeal in Gaza to the UK’s Daily Mail, urging global leaders to secure the release of 50 remaining hostages, including her friends, twin brothers Gali and Ziv Berman. “They are probably in a cage,” she said. “They are abusing them. There isn’t a lot of water. It is probably unimaginably hot for them.” Visibly frustrated, she demanded, “Come on already! What is taking so long?” Damari, captured during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Kibbutz Kfar Aza, recounted texting Gali, “I’m not ok,” as she froze in fear. Gali braved gunfire to reach her, but 10 terrorists stormed her home, shot her hand and dog, Choocha, and abducted them. “I hugged Gali and both of our faces were on the pillow,” she recalled. Defiant, she grabbed a captor’s gun, pleading, “Shoot me! Shoot me!” to avoid abduction, but relented when they threatened Gali.
In Gaza, Damari endured torture at Al-Shifa Hospital, where “Dr. Hamas” botched her finger amputation, leaving her in “searing pain.” Held in a Hamas operative’s home with his armed family, she was later moved to tunnels after a bombing. “It is like a city,” she said of the network. In a 2x2-meter cage with five others, including 24-year-old Romi Gonen, she faced cockroaches, humidity, and minimal sanitation. Hiding her lesbian identity for fear of death, she deflected marriage questions, joking her “three brothers wouldn’t let her date.” To cope, she exercised rigorously, earning the nickname “John Cena” from captors who called her “Sajaya” for her strength. “The most I did was 600 sit-ups,” she said. Facing despair, she and Romi made a suicide pact, warning a guard, “If you don’t get us out of here, you are going to have two dead hostages.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, visiting Ramon Air Force Base, said Israel is “considering alternative options to bring our hostages home,” while President Donald Trump, addressing the crisis, noted Hamas’s “suicide pact,” stating, “They want to die and it’s very, very bad. It got to a point where you’re going to have to finish the job.” Hostage families, meeting U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, warned, “We cannot let such a disaster happen again in August 2025,” referencing the 2024 murder of six hostages. Rubio affirmed, “I repeat our absolute commitment to secure a deal that brings every hostage home and ends the fighting.” Social media on X echoed urgency, with one user posting, “Emily’s story is gut-wrenching, save the 50 hostages now!”