British hostage Emily Damari could be freed this weekend as Israel and Hamas finalise ceasefire and hostage release details.
The 28-year-old Tottenham Hotspur fan with British-Israeli citizenship was shot in the hand and leg when she was snatched from her home in southern Israel during the October 7 attack by Hamas.
She is among five females and two children who are at the top of the list to be released by Hamas.
Sources close to the negotiators claim that three of them will be returned to Israel on Sunday, with the remaining four freed seven days later – which suggests Ms Damari will be back with her mother Mandy, who was born in Surrey, within a fortnight.
They will be followed by five teenagers – Naama Levy, Karina Ariev, Liri Albag, Daniela Gilboa and Agam Berger – who were moved to the top of the hostage list after pressure from the Mail.
Damari’s mother, Mandy Damari, has been tirelessly campaigning for her daughter’s release after she was kidnapped alongside twin brothers Ziv and Gali Berman, 27.
In November, a spokeswoman for Israel’s UK embassy urged the international community to do more to influence Hamas into releasing Emily and the other hostages.
Orly Goldschmidt told Sky News: ‘Emily Damari, 28-year-old British-Israeli citizen, is still in the dungeon of Hamas, and we are asking for the international support, for the British support, to put pressure on Hamas to release her and the other 100 hostages.’
The Tottenham Hotspur fan, Emily Damari, 28, is among five females and two children who are at the top of the list to be released by Hamas
Pictured: A man walks past a giant billboard featuring portraits of Israeli hostages held in Gaza since the October 7 attack
Damari was kidnapped alongside twin brothers Ziv and Gali Berman, 27, on October 7
The historic Middle East peace deal was on the cusp of being reached last night after Israel and Hamas neared agreeing on ceasefire to end 15 months of bloodshed.
The deal follows weeks of painstaking negotiations in the Qatari capital, and promises the release of dozens of hostages held by Hamas in phases, the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israel and would allow hundreds of thousands of people displaced in Gaza to return to what remains of their homes.
Phase one of the agreement will go on for 42 days and will include a ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces to the east away from populated areas Qatar‘s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said.
It also would flood badly needed humanitarian aid into a devastated territory.
The second and third phases are less developed, and the details will be decided during the first phase, Thani added.
‘We will continue to do everything we can, everything possible together with our partners, to ensure that this deal is implemented as it’s agreed,’ he said, noting that mediators had spent 411 days working on the agreement terms.
‘And this deal will bring us peace, hopefully, at the end of it. I believe that it all depends on the parties of the agreement acting in good faith in that agreement in order to ensure that no collapse happening to that deal.’
Donald Trump confirmed mediators had struck ‘a deal for the hostages’ after his ‘pressure tactics’ were lauded for securing an agreement that had eluded Joe Biden.
‘We have a deal for the hostages in the Middle East. They will be released shortly. Thank you!’ the US president-elect wrote on his Truth Social platform.
But despite a hostage release deal nearly being reached, the sister of two British citizens murdered in the Israel-Hamas conflict has said ‘there will never be any closure’ until all Israeli hostages are returned.
Ayelet Svatitzky, 47, said the reports emerging on Wednesday were a ‘relief’ after her brothers Roi and Nadav Popplewell both died and her mother Channah Peri was previously taken as a hostage.
Israel and Hamas have agreed to a ceasefire deal and hostage release, mediators announced on Wednesday
People react to the reports of a possible Gaza cease fire and hostage release deal being reached during a rally calling for the return of hostages held in the Gaza Strip on January 15, 2025 in Tel Aviv, Israel
An Israeli Black Hawk military helicopter lands inside North Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas on January 14
As news of the possible ceasefire deal was announced, there were reports of Palestinians celebrating in Khan Younis in Gaza
Relatives and friends of people killed and abducted by Hamas and taken into Gaza, react to the ceasefire announcement as they take part in a demonstration in Tel Aviv, Israe
Speaking from Israel, she said: ‘We’ve been praying for a deal to be signed, and every hostage [being] released is a relief for them, for the families and for us.
‘Of course, it’s too late for my brother, we will never be able to save them. We were able to bring him for burial, and so we know how crucial it is for for a deal to be complete and for all hostages to be brought back, for the live hostages to be released to their families and to start the healing and rehabilitating.’
Asked if the reported ceasefire would bring her family closure, Svatitzky said: ‘There will never be any closure for us until all the hostages are back.
‘We’ll be worried and we’re not able to move on until the last hostage is home.’
Israel is due to vote on the proposal in parliament this morning but it is expected to pass after Benjamin Netanyahu convinced his far-Right allies to fall in line.
Families and loved ones of the 98 hostages held in Gaza took to the streets in Tel Aviv to celebrate the monumental agreement which will come into force on Sunday.
They were seen lighting flares, waving placards and embracing as it is hoped the first captives could be freed as early as this weekend.
In Gaza, men came out with Palestinian flags and danced after the news that the 467-day conflict was finally paused.
After three days of intense negotiations following an early hours breakthrough on Monday, Trump proclaimed that he had helped seal an ‘epic ceasefire agreement’.
The President-elect said: ‘I am thrilled American and Israeli hostages will be returning home to be reunited with their families and loved ones.
‘With this deal in place, my national security team, through the efforts of special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, will continue to work closely with Israel and our Allies to make sure Gaza never again becomes a terrorist safe haven.’
US President Joe Biden, alongside Vice President Kamala Harris (L) and Secretary of State Antony Blinken (R), speaks about the Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage release deal in the Grand Foyer of the White House on January 15, 2025
A man waves Palestinian flags as Palestinians react to news on a ceasefire deal with Israel, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, January 15, 2025
Supporters of Israeli hostages, who were kidnapped during the deadly October 7 2023 attack by Hamas, hold torches as they attend a protest to demand a deal to bring every hostage home at once, amid Gaza ceasefire negotiations, in Tel Aviv, Israel, January 15, 2025
Hours later, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said there were ‘still some unresolved clauses’ that they were working to resolve.
The Qatari PM paid credit to both the outgoing and incoming US presidents saying their united work was a ‘clear demonstration of the commitment’ of America which helped seal the deal.
Biden said the framework was based on his contours laid out last May, adding: ‘My diplomacy never ceased in their efforts to get this done.’
While the historic deal is an important first step there are still fears the agreement could collapse and fighting resume before all the hostages are freed and Gaza rebuilt.
Israel and Hamas have agreed to pause fighting for 42 days to allow 33 of the 98 hostages to be released in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
However, during this time they must begin to negotiate the much trickier second phase which would see the Israel Defence Forces gradually withdraw entirely from Gaza in exchange for the remaining hostages.
Hamas is insistent it will remain in power – something that is unacceptable for Israel – meaning the ceasefire could collapse.
The terror group breached the last ceasefire after the first phase in November 2023 by firing rockets into Israel.
The Hostage Forum last night called for a deal that ‘ensures the return of every person held captive’.
It is understood the first phase will start with the release of female civilian hostages, with three freed as early as this Sunday.
They will be followed by women soldiers before men over 50 and sick men under 50.
US sources last night told Fox News that 23 out of the 33 hostages to be released are alive.
Hamas is insistent it will remain in power – something that is unacceptable for Israel – meaning the ceasefire could collapse
Palestinians react to news on a ceasefire deal with Israel, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, January 15, 2025
Steve Witkoff was seen as vital in pushing the Israelis into agreeing a breakthrough on Monday
Sir Keir Starmer has said the ceasefire and hostage deal is ‘long-overdue news’ and paid tribute to ‘the British people who were murdered by Hamas’, adding: ‘We will continue to mourn and remember them.’
Last night Dr Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa programme at Chatham House, said: ‘Donald Trump’s pressure tactics and warnings to Hamas and Israel have clearly been effective in reviving the drawn-out negotiations where the Biden administration proved unwilling to exert adequate pressure over Israel’s leadership.’
Witkoff was seen as vital in pushing the Israelis into agreeing a breakthrough on Monday.
Hamas’ de-facto leader in Gaza Mohammed Sinwar then gave his blessing on Tuesday but the terror group threw a spanner in the works by demanding last-minute changes to the proposal.
After Hamas backed down, Trump announced a ceasefire.
It pauses a conflict that started with the October 7 attacks, the largest slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust.
UN and international relief organisations estimate that some 90 per cent of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced, often multiple times.
They say tens of thousands of homes have been destroyed and hospitals are barely functioning.
Experts have warned that famine may be underway in northern Gaza, where Israel launched a major offensive in early October, displacing tens of thousands of residents.