A British-Israeli hostage freed from Hamas captivity in Gaza on Sunday has said she has “returned to life” and is the “happiest person in the world” after being reunited with her family.

In her first comments since being freed, Emily Damari, 28, thanked her family and friends who campaigned for her release. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. I’m the happiest in the world,” she said in Hebrew on Instagram.

Damari was freed after 471 days in captivity alongside two other Israeli hostages, Romi Gonen, 24, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, as part of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

The Tottenham Hotspur fan who was born in Israel to a British mother and Israeli father returned from Gaza with a bandage on one hand. She lost two fingers when she was shot and abducted from her home in the Kfar Aza kibbutz during Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack. She signed off her Instagram message with a “rock on” emoji, a possible reference to the fingers she lost during her ordeal.

Her mother, Mandy Damari, who was born in Surrey and grew up in Beckenham, south-east London, praised her daughter’s resilience. She was pictured embracing her at Tel Aviv’s Sheba Medical Center, Israel’s largest hospital, where Gonen and Steinbrecher were also reunited with their families.

“Yesterday, I was finally able to give Emily the hug that I have been dreaming of,” Mandy Damari, 63, said on Monday. “From the bottom of my heart I would like to thank the many people who have played a role in bringing Emily home and given their support to me and my family.

“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.”

She told a press conference at Sheba hospital on Monday: “I am delighted to be able to tell you that Emily is in high spirits and on the road to recovery. She is an amazingly strong and resilient young woman.”

Gal Kubani, a friend who visited Damari at hospital, told Agence France-Presse that she “came back to us really strong, smiling, a hero, brave” and was in “good condition”.

“We saw her, we lifted her in the air, all the friends. We hugged her, we cried, we got emotional, we shouted, we screamed,” Kubani, 28, said.

“To really see her standing on her feet, that was the most emotional and fun thing in the world.”

A lawyer representing the Damari family and other British-linked hostages in Gaza said Emily seemed “to be in pretty good nick, pretty good spirits”. Adam Rose said he had not yet spoken to Damari but added: “You’ve seen images where she’s clearly lost a couple of her fingers – she was shot when she was taken hostage, she was shot in her leg and her hand – and she seems to be doing quite well. She seemed – just looking at the images – very smiley and seemed to be moving, and that’s fantastic.

“I understand she’s staying in hospital for a bit longer to be fully checked out and she’ll no doubt need mental health as well as physical health support over the coming period.”

Rose said he had exchanged a couple of WhatsApp messages with Damari’s mother, whom he described as “elated”.

The UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, said it was “deeply moving” to see pictures of Damari being reunited with her mother. “I grew very close to her family, and I think the whole of the country will be delighted that she is free,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

Steinbrecher’s family thanked supporters for giving them strength “during our darkest moments”. In a statement on Sunday, they said: “Our heroic Dodo, who survived 471 days in Hamas captivity, begins her rehabilitation journey today.”

All three women were assessed at Sheba, with doctors reporting they were in a stable condition and would be monitored for a few days.

A total of 33 hostages are due to be released over the next six weeks, in exchange for about 1,700 Palestinians held in Israel prisons.