Freed British hostage Emily Damari waved her wounded hand defiantly as she went into surgery to treat the horrific injuries inflicted by Hamas.

Emily, 28, lost two fingers and had shrapnel wounds in her leg when she was shot at point blank range before she was kidnapped on October 7.

The Tottenham Hotspurs fan has revealed she endured ‘intense pain’ after a medic in Gaza told her he was ‘Dr Hamas’ – before cruelly sewing the nerves in her hand together.

She was operated on beside a corpse and then left with a huge, open ‘festering’ wound. Her mother, Mandy, 63, said it was a ‘miracle’ she didn’t contract a life-threatening infection in the tunnels.

But after being released in the ceasefire deal in January, Emily smiled and made the rockstar symbol with her injured hand.

It saw her become a symbol of defiance – and she repeated the pose as she went into surgery last week.

Speaking from Sheba Medical Center, near Tel Aviv, Emily said: ‘I have fully embraced my hand, my pain, and my scars. To me they represent freedom, hope and strength.

‘My recovery will take time and my hand will never fully recover.

‘But the intense pain I had for a year and a half due to the nerves being sewn together after my first operation in Shifa Hospital in Gaza is now no longer with me.

Emily Damari waved her wounded hand defiantly as she went into surgery to treat the horrific injuries inflicted by Hamas

Emily, 28, lost two fingers and had shrapnel wounds in her leg when she was shot at point blank range before she was kidnapped on October 7

Al-Qassam Brigades hands over three Israeli hostages, including Emily, to Red Cross at al-Saraya as part of 1st phase of ceasefire and prisoner swap deal on January 19, 2025

Emily Damari’s defiant fingerless hand has become a resistance meme

‘The large scar that was caused by an open, festering, wound that did not heal for four months because of the conditions of the tunnels I was held in, is now looking better.

‘After my recuperation, with the help of physiotherapy, I hope to be able to use my hand much more effectively than was previously possible, before the surgery.’

Emily was taken from her home in Kfar Aza on the morning of October 7, 2023, when Hamas stormed the kibbutz, killed her friends, executed her dog, blindfolded her and took her into Gaza in her own car. The same bullet that killed her beloved pet hit her in the leg.

She was then taken to Al Shifa Hospital and wheeled into an operating theatre beside a corpse. A Palestinian medic walked in and told her: ‘Hi, I’m Dr Hamas,’ Emily revealed on Instagram yesterday.

She said: ‘I remember myself sitting in Shifa on October 7, looking at a small window that was there, when I felt my hand was dismembered and my leg shot from the bullet that hit my Chucha, my beloved dog – the most precious thing I had in 11 years.

‘Out of madness I didn’t even have time to think about it. After all, I was kidnapped to Gaza together with two good friends, my neighbor was murdered.

‘I left my mother and brother with his wife and daughters and was thinking who knows what will happen to them?

‘And then this moment came – they put me in an operating room with a corpse in front of me. I saw the blue sky that should have been grey on a day like this. I asked God to watch over me.

Emily with her mother Amanda at an undisclosed location in Israel on January 19, 2025 after a ceasefire and hostage-prisoner exchange

Emily has undergone a series of complex operations on her hand and leg to correct complications from the wounds she sustained 

The Tottenham Hotspurs fan has revealed she endured ‘intense pain’ after a medic in Gaza told her he was ‘Dr Hamas’ – before cruelly sewing the nerves in her hand together

The only medicine Emily received in captivity was an out-of-date bottle of iodine and a solitary bandage during 471 days in captivity

‘Then I woke up when Dr Hamas informed me that I no longer have two fingers, and the leg wound remains open with four stitches instead of 16.

‘Today, after 17 months, my moment has come to replace Shifa with Sheba and finally receive proper treatment.

‘I am at peace with my injury, really at peace. I know there is more recovery ahead of us, but this time I am surrounded by family and friends that I love and that is what is important.

‘I am proud of my disability, and with it I will win.’

She then finished with a Hebrew Bible quote: ‘Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.’

The only medicine Emily received in captivity was an out-of-date bottle of iodine and a solitary bandage during 471 days in captivity. The Red Cross is still yet to visit a single hostage in the Strip.

Fellow captive, Romi Gonen, 24, is a trained medic and helped treat Emily’s wound as they remained together for most of their 15 months in captivity.

They were kept in ‘cruel and horrific’ conditions, spending weeks on end underground with no sanitation or access to clean water.

But, compared to the men who were freed weeks later, Romi and Emily appeared relatively healthy when they were released on January 19 after 471 days in captivity.

Emily reunited with her mother after 471 days being held captive by Hamas 

Emily uses a phone with her mother, Mandy, after being held in Gaza since the deadly October 7 2023 attack by Hamas

Emily is pictured embracing a relative welcoming her at the Sheba medical centre in Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv, on January 19, 2025, following her release

Emily pictured with her mother Amanda, who fought tirelessly to free her daughter 

Images of the male hostages’ gaunt bodies horrified the world with chilling similarities to Holocaust survivors.

Emily said: ‘It was shocking but not surprising to see how emaciated some of the other hostages were when they came out.

‘Hamas has created hell on Earth, the conditions down there are unimaginable.’

Emily’s mother, Mandy, 63, said her daughter had been ‘sewn up like a pin cushion’ by Hamas.

‘It is nothing short of a miracle that she did not contract a life-threatening infection,’ she said.

Mrs Damari revealed in a phone call to Sir Keir Starmer last month that Emily had been held in UNRWA facilities in Gaza prompting the UK to put its funding to the UN agency under review.

Emily is now fighting for the release of the remaining 59 hostages which include her close friends from Kfar Aza, twin brothers Gali and Ziv Berman, both 27.

She said: ‘Although my injuries were not simple, I know that there are others still in captivity who are in much worse shape than I am, physically and mentally.

‘Every remaining hostage must come home without any further delay.’

Donald Trump was widely credited for securing a ceasefire deal that had eluded his predecessor Joe Biden for over a year.

But after completion of the first phase to release 33 hostages, the IDF must agree to withdraw from Gaza and Hamas relinquish power for the second phase to release those who remain. It is feared it will not hold.

Urging diplomats to uphold the deal, Emily said: ‘I want to thank President Trump again for securing the deal to get me home.

‘Please help us to bring home Gali, Ziv and all of the remaining hostages as well, before it is too late for all of them.’

Emily has been invited to No10 and to watch her beloved Tottenham Hotspurs play in the UK but said she will do so only once everyone is home.

‘After I recover from my surgeries, and after the remaining hostages are all released, I will be so excited to come back to Britain,’ she said.

‘I have so many people that I want to thank personally for helping me get my life back’.