Emily Damari, who was held hostage by Hamas for 471 days, underwent a series of surgeries on Sunday to treat severe wounds inflicted on her by the Palestinian terrorist group during her captivity in Gaza. Damari, who was abducted from her home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre, sustained significant injuries, including the loss of two fingers after being shot by terrorists. Her surgeries, performed at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, aimed to address complications from untreated wounds she endured while held in Gaza’s underground tunnel network. Speaking ahead of her procedures, Damari said she “fully embraced” her scars, viewing them as symbols of “freedom, hope, and strength.” “My recovery will take time, and my hand will never fully heal, but the intense pain I had for a year and a half due to the nerves being sewn together after my first operation at Shifa Hospital in Gaza is now no longer with me,” she stated. She described the brutal conditions of her captivity, including months spent in Hamas’s tunnel system without sanitation or clean water. One of her wounds remained open and festering for four months due to the unsanitary environment. Damari’s mother, Mandy, revealed that Hamas provided her daughter with no medical care beyond an expired bottle of iodine. “It is nothing short of a miracle that she did not contract a life-threatening infection,” she said, adding that Emily had been “sewn up like a pin cushion” while in Gaza. Damari was among three Israeli hostages released on January 19, 2025, as part of a ceasefire agreement. Upon her return, she was airlifted to Sheba Medical Center, where doctors reported that while her physical condition was stable, she, like many other hostages, had suffered extreme malnutrition and trauma. Reflecting on her release, Damari spoke of the horrifying state of other hostages. “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,” she said. She also issued a plea for continued efforts to secure the release of those still held in Gaza, calling for urgent action to free her close friends, twin brothers Gali and Ziv Berman, who were kidnapped alongside her on October 7. “I want to thank President [Donald] Trump again for securing the deal to get me home. Please help us to bring home Gali, Ziv, and all of the remaining hostages before it is too late for them,” she urged. According to Israeli assessments, at least 59 hostages remain in Gaza. Of these, 24 are believed to be alive—all men—while 35, including three women, are presumed dead. Among the remaining hostages, two of the living and three of the deceased are foreign nationals. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)