England fan and former Gaza hostage Emily Damari cheered on her hero Harry Kane for the first time since her release. British-Israeli Emily, 29, last saw the England captain when he still played for her beloved Tottenham Hotspur in 2023.
It was the same year she was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists from Kfar Aza kibbutz during the October 7 attacks. Twins Gali and Ziv Berman were also taken with Emily.
During the attack she was shot in her left hand and lost her middle and ring fingers. It was 471 days before she was released and an unimaginable 738 days before the brothers finally saw freedom. The trio are close friends and huge football fans and were all in the crowd on Saturday to cheer on England in their final group match against Panama in New Jersey.
Writing on her Instagram, Emily, who shared photos of herself wearing England flag face paint and celebrating, said: “Thank god for every little thing,” as she described watching Kane.
She added: “I came to see him in 2023 playing for Tottenham, now I’m here to see him playing in the World Cup for England.”
Kane, who now plays club football for Bayern Munich, netted the second goal in a 2-0 win, making him England’s record World Cup scorer with 11 goals.
Emily, who is due to get married this summer to Danielle Amit, looked to be having an amazing time watching the Three Lions with the Liverpool-supporting Berman brothers, both aged 28.
A source said: “These three people were kidnapped together and endured the horror of captivity.
“Now they are together again as a vision of freedom and courage.
“It’s a beautiful thing that the three of them were there supporting England, it’s amazing.”
