A photo obtained by the IDF that was shared by freed Hamas hostage Emily Damari on October 3, 2026, shows her at Gaza City's Shifa Hospital after she was abducted to the coastal enclave during the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led terror atrocities in southern Israel. (IDF via @emilydamari on Instagram)
Freed hostage Emily Damari shares pictures of herself from Gaza that she says were taken immediately after she was abducted by Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists to the coastal enclave during the October 7, 2023, invasion of Israel.
In the images posted to Instagram, Damari is seen lying on a hospital bed at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City with a head covering and blood-stained piece of clothing over her entire body that the terrorists apparently made her put on, as “Dr. Hamas” operates on her hand that was hit by gunfire.
“I was kidnapped together with the best friend I could ask for, Gali Berman, who came to be with me during the most frightening moments of my life. In these moments I rediscovered the term ‘mortal fear,'” she says.
“I’m in a disgusting room filled with blood, a corpse is on the ground near me. A ‘doctor’ approaches and presents himself as Dr. Hamas, while near him are another 10 monsters with AK-47s [pointed] at my head and I am just praying to God that he will protect me in this situation,” Damari recalls.
A photo obtained by the IDF that was shared by freed Hamas hostage Emily Damari on October 3, 2026, shows her at Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital after she was abducted to the coastal enclave during the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led terror atrocities in southern Israel. (IDF via @emilydamari on Instagram)
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel