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Emily Damari proposes to girlfriend at party celebrating first anniversary of her release
The former hostage got down on one knee and popped the question to her partner, Danielle Amit
January 23, 2026 13:04
The former hostage got down on one knee and popped the question to her partner, Danielle Amit
January 23, 2026 13:04British-Israeli former hostage Emily Damari has become engaged to her influencer partner Danielle Amit at a party celebrating the first anniversary of her release from Gaza.
A video of the joyous moment posted to social media showed Damari, surrounded by friends, getting down on one knee and proposing to Amit, with whom she went public last year after she returned home.
The celebration was also attended by Gali and Ziv Berman, twin brothers and friends of Damari who were kidnapped from the same kibbutz on October 7.
In an interview with the Jerusalem Post after her release, having been held in Gaza for more than 400 days, Damari said that she hid the fact she was gay from her captors for fear of violence, saying it would be "worse than them knowing I was Jewish or Israeli".
She also recounted that, at one point in captivity, she had questioned her captor about what he would do if he found out his brother was gay, to which he responded, "murder him".
And she revealed that the Hamas terrorists who were holding her would question why she wasn't married, and she would tell them that she keeps to herself.
🚨BREAKING:
— The Uri (@uricohenisrael) January 22, 2026
Former Israeli hostage Emily Damari and her girlfriend Daniel Amit just got engaged!🥳🎊🎉👰👰
Mazal Tov❤️❤️❤️
What do you wish them? pic.twitter.com/qxkhxLo3xg
After being held for over 15 months, Damari was released in January 2025 during a temporary truce in fighting.
Amit is a social media personality and influencer known for her food content. Her profile regularly spotlights Israel restaurants and cuisine around the globe.
Celebrating the announcement, the Israeli embassy in London wrote on X: "Huge congratulations to Emily Damari and Danielle Amit on their engagement last night. After the long nightmare [Damari] endured. Seeing her surrounded by love and starting this new chapter is everything."
Other X users have congratulated the couple, posting that “love wins over hate every single time”.
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