British hostage freed from Hamas terror tunnels speaks out after poet who mocked her wins top prize 

A BRITISH hostage freed from Gaza has spoken of her pain after a Palestinian poet who insulted her was awarded a top prize. 

Emily Damari, 28, endured 471 days in Hamas terror tunnels but writer Mosab Abu Toha, 32, questioned whether she was actually held captive. 

PA

British hostage, Emily Damari, 28, who was freed from Gaza, has spoken of her pain after a Palestinian poet who insulted her was awarded a top prize[/caption]

After Toha was handed a 2025 Pulitzer Prize, Emily, who lost two fingers when she was snatched in October 2023, said: “For almost 500 days I lived in terror.

“I was starved and abused.

“Imagine my pain when I saw you awarded a Pulitzer Prize to Mosab Abu Toha. 

“He is not a courageous writer.

“By honouring him, you have joined him in the shadows of denial.”

Toha won the prize for his portrayal of the Gaza War in The New Yorker. 

But he has mocked hostages on social media, labelling some “killers”, and called reports of murdered children “propaganda”. 

In a post about Spurs fan Emily — who has dual nationality and completed compulsory national service in Israel — he wrote: “This soldier close to the border with a city she and her country have been occupying is called a hostage?” 

AP

A Gaza tunnel, where Israel Defense Forces say six Israeli hostages were killed by Hamas terrorists[/caption]