The mother of a British woman who was among those taken hostage by Hamas on October 7 has written an emotional letter to her daughter and urged British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to ensure it is delivered to Gaza. Emily Damri, 28, is a British-Israeli dual citizen and was taken hostage from her home in Kibbutz Kfar Azza near the Gaza border, where she was born and raised, the Daily Mail reports.
Emily’s mother Mandy Damery traveled to Downing Street earlier this week and handed the note for her daughter to Mr Starmer. They also urged the UK government to do more to bring Emily back home.
“Every day it’s breaking my heart more and more…soon there will be nothing left of my heart or Emily’s,” the news outlet quoted Mandy, 63, as saying.
He said most British people were still unaware that a British citizen was still being held hostage in Gaza. Therefore, he urged Starmer to mention his daughter whenever the UK government talked about hostages.
Urging Starmer to use “every ounce of his influence” to bring Emily back, Mandy said, “Diplomatic pressure, negotiations, humanitarian efforts – whatever it takes… We cannot let another day pass Can give.”
The country cannot afford to lose more lives due to this nightmare, he said, adding, “We don’t need tea and sympathy, we need action, not words.”
Here is Mandy’s heartfelt letter to her daughter:
“Dear Emily,
I hope you find this note when you are alive and at home with me, Abba and your entire family. And you will see that we are all alive.
If this comes to you in Gaza, know that we all love you and miss you and are sick of worrying about what is happening to you every day and we are praying to get you back home. And we are meeting them as best we can.
Please stay strong, keep praying and just stay the beautiful version of you that I love to the moon and back. You will come home. And I promise I’ll never complain again about your perfume sticking to me when you’re home.
love you so much
Your mother (who is always right!)”
In January this year, Dafna Ilyakim, a hostage who was released, said in an interview with an Israeli TV channel that she and her sister were taken by Hamas militants into underground tunnels where they met five other hostages. Apart from Emily Damri, the other four he mentioned are Liri Albagh, Naama Levy, Romy Gonen and Agam Berger.
Kidnapped Emily, along with twin brothers Ziv and Gali Berman, are believed to still be somewhere in the Gaza Strip, being held hostage inside a deep underground tunnel. On Monday, it will be one year since the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas militants on southern Israeli communities killed at least 1,200 people and abducted more than 250 others.
The report further added that Emily’s beloved dog Chucha, a Golden Cockapoo, was shot dead in the arms by Hamas militants, while she was also shot in the arm.
