Emily: I'm happiest person in the world

EMILY Damari said she was the "happiest person in the world" as she enjoyed her first full day of freedom after being held captive for 471 days by Hamas.

- Giles Sheldrick

The British-Israeli former hostage took to Instagram to thank those who had worked around the clock so she could return to her "beloved life".

Emily, 28, said: "I'm loving, loving, loving. Thanks be to God. Thanks to my family, to the best friends I have in this world. I have returned to life, my loved ones.

"I have only managed to see just a tiny bit of everything, and you have exploded my heart from emotion. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I am the happiest person in the world."

She was freed on Sunday with fellow captives Doron Steinbrecher, 31, and Romi Gonen, 24 having been kidnapped on October 7, 2023.

Tunnels

They were released as part of a ceasefire deal which saw Israel free Palestinian prisoners in return.

Emily was seized at Kfar Aza kibbutz in southern Israel, bundled over the border and imprisoned in the terrorists' network of cramped tunnels deep below Gaza.

Her golden cockapoo Choocha was shot dead in Hamas' rampage that left her with gunshot wounds to her left hand and leg. She signed off her post with a hand emoji, a reference to photos of her release which show two fingers missing.