Freed Brit Hamas hostage Emily Damari’s defiant hand gesture becomes an instant meme with well-wishers even having it as a tattoo

Freed British Hamas hostage Emily Damari’s defiant hand gesture has already become a meme, and one well-wisher has even had it tattooed onto his calf.

In an inspirational video posted to X/Twitter, Jewish author Hen Mazzig showed a clip of a person getting tattooed, just a day after Damari was released from 470 days in captivity. 

The clip pans from the man’s leg to an iPad screen depicting the outline of his new tattoo – Damari’s raised bandaged hand showing her two missing fingers.

He captioned the post: ‘Emily Damari is officially an icon of resilience in Israel’.

The 28-year-old British-Israeli hostage lost two fingers after being shot in the hand on October 7, according to the Hostage and Missing Families Forum.

She also suffered shrapnel wounds to the leg when snatched from the Kfar Aza kibbutz village. 

Yesterday, Damari  was one of three women to be freed as part of a ceasefire deal with Israel, with an international Red Cross convoy collecting the trio from Hamas.

The truce had been delayed yesterday morning when the terrorist group failed to hand over the list of names 24 hours ahead of time as stated as part of the agreement.

In an inspirational video posted to X/ Twitter , Jewish author Hen Mazzig showed a clip of a person getting a tattoo inspired by British-Israeli freed hostage Emily Damari

The new tattoo showed Damari's raised bandaged hand showing her two missing fingers

The new tattoo showed Damari’s raised bandaged hand showing her two missing fingers

The 28-year-old British-Israeli hostage lost two fingers after being shot in the hand on October 7 during Hamas' incursion into southern Israel

The 28-year-old British-Israeli hostage lost two fingers after being shot in the hand on October 7 during Hamas’ incursion into southern Israel

Today, Damari broke her silence to say she is the ‘happiest person in the world’ since being freed from Hamas captivity in Gaza.

‘Love, love, love. Thank God. Thank you to my family, to Orali, to the best friends I have in this world,’ she said in a post on Instagram. ‘I returned to my beloved life.’

‘I only managed to see a glimpse of everything and you broke my heart with excitement. Thank you thank you the happiest person in the world just to be.’

At the end of her post she added a ‘rock on’ emoji, symbolising the two fingers she lost during Hamas’ assault.  

Speaking to the Mail, Rotem Koren, a friend of Damari’s said: ‘After October 7 is was very difficult to rebuild these feelings, so yesterday was a very emotional moment.

‘I think that most of the world saw the power of Emily. Even in the most difficult moments, near all these terrorists to keep smiling – she is so powerful.

‘To see that was a very emotional moment for us. When she got out of the terrorist’s car, or when she whistled to us at the hospital, you could see there that nothing can stop her.

‘You saw how even in her situation she looked at the positive side. Even after she lost two fingers she turned it into a positive – the first thing she does is shares this sticker of her hand.

‘Now everyone takes strength from that. I hope that everyone can take these skills that she has, to keep yourself and look for the positive no matter what happens’.

Emily Damari with her mother in Shefayim, Israel after the hostage release on Sunday

Emily Damari with her mother in Shefayim, Israel after the hostage release on Sunday

Palestinian Hamas members gather around a vehicle as they hand over Emily Damari

Palestinian Hamas members gather around a vehicle as they hand over Emily Damari

British hostage Emily Damari, among the last hostages to be released from Gaza

British hostage Emily Damari, among the last hostages to be released from Gaza

Pal Guy Yakobi, 29, added: ‘It was great to see her and hear her voice again. It was a quick meeting ,we didn’t have a lot of time to speak. It was just a hug and a kiss and told her that I love her’.

On becoming symbol of resistance: ‘If someone can survive and come back smiling – it’s Emily.

‘We weren’t surprised to see how she was acting.’

Emily spent most of her time in captivity with Romi Gonen who was released alongside her. 

Romi spoke on Sunday of how the British-Israeli helped keep her spirits up during captivity.

It emerged yesterday that Romi, a trained paramedic, helped tend to Emily’s wounded hand throughout their time in captivity.

‘She assisted Emily with her injury, after being given no real treatment by Hamas. She was never visited once by the Red Cross,’ a family friend said.

A statement from Mandy Damari, her mother, shared today thanked the ‘many people’ who she said have ‘played a role in bringing Emily home’ and given their support.

‘Yesterday, I was finally able to give Emily the hug that I have been dreaming of,’ she said.

Emily Damari pictured with her mother in Israel after her release on Sunday

Emily Damari pictured with her mother in Israel after her release on Sunday

Emily Damari ahead of her release, pictured with a document bearing the logo of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's armed wing, certifying the ceasefire and hostage-prisoner exchange deal

Emily Damari ahead of her release, pictured with a document bearing the logo of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing, certifying the ceasefire and hostage-prisoner exchange deal

‘I am relieved to report that after her release, Emily is doing much better than any of us could ever have anticipated. I am also happy that during her release the world was given a glimpse of her feisty and charismatic personality.

‘In Emily’s own words, she is the happiest girl in the world; she has her life back.

‘In this incredibly happy moment for our family, we must also remember that 94 other hostages still remain. The ceasefire must continue and every last hostage must be returned to their families.

‘As wonderful as it is to see Emily’s resilience, these are still early days. As you will have seen yesterday, Emily lost two of the fingers on her left hand.

‘She now needs time with her loved ones and her doctors as she begins her road to recovery.’

Some 33 hostages are set to be released under the terms of the first phase of the three-part ceasefire agreement.

But just three hostages were released on the first day of the ceasefire, with four more to be returned on the seventh. 

Three hostages will then be released each week for a period of four weeks. Finally, 14 hostages will be returned on the sixth week of phase one.

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