'Unconditional and immediate' - British relatives of Israeli hostages in Gaza appeal to UK prime minister

The mother of Emily Damari, now 28, the only British hostage left in Gaza, has given UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer a letter to try to deliver to her daughter, urging him to use “every ounce of his influence” to get Emily home. 

Mandy Damari will be one of the speakers at Hyde Park in London today, for a one-year commemoration event for the 1,200 victims of the Oct. 7 massacre and the kidnapping by Hamas terrorists of 251 men, women and children.

Speaking publicly for the first time, Mandy said her daughter was kidnapped from her apartment in Kibbutz Kfar Aza: “She was shot, and taken in her own car, by force, into the Gaza Strip.” 

Emily’s beloved golden cockapoo, Choocha, was shot in her arms, and it is believed that she was taken alongside twin brothers Ziv and Gali Berman, who turned 27 in captivity. Keith Siegel (64) and Doron Steinbrecher (31) make up the five Kfar Aza residents remaining in Gaza.

Dafna Elyakim (15), a released hostage, told an Israeli TV channel in January that she and her 8-year-old sister were taken into underground tunnels by the terrorists, where they met five other female hostages. 

The Jerusalem Post wrote for International Women’s Day about the plight of the young kidnapped women. Besides Emily Damari, the other four mentioned by Elyakim were Liri Albag, Na’ama Levy, Romy Gonen and Agam Berger, all aged 19 to 24.

“I would like to feel that the British public were behind her, and the British government were behind her, and they were saying there was a British hostage held captive in the terror tunnels by Hamas in Gaza,” Mandy continued, in a short, heartbreaking video.

“I want them to know that she’s there, and to advocate for her release, unconditionally and immediately… Make sure that she’s not forgotten.” 

UK resident Adam Ma’anit, the cousin of hostage Tsachi Idan, 49, also met with the British premier, and told him that the hostages should not be reduced to bargaining chips. 

Speaking afterward on London’s LBC Radio, he addressed the diplomatic priorities and said freedom for the hostages should be a precursor to a ceasefire:

“If the international community… united under that one, singular purpose, of returning the hostages, it then opens up all of the other pathways.. ceasefire, ..rebuild, ..bring in aid...”

“I think the reason that we’re stuck is that we keep conditioning it. That was the message I had for the Prime Minister today: ‘Please stop conditioning hostages with any other aspect that you would like to see happen.’ It’s an unconditional request, demand, to release the hostages. It should be unequivocal.”

Detailing the condition of the six hostages that were recently found executed by Hamas terrorists, he stressed: “This is a humanitarian issue and should be treated [as such] and not as a political issue… It’s an inhuman torture, a war crime. Bringing them home allows us to open up new pathways for peace.” 

London’s Daily Mail published the note that Mandy wrote to her daughter:

“Dear Emily,

I hope this note gets to you when you are alive and home with me, abba and all your family. And you’ll see that we are all alive.

If it gets to you in Gaza know that we all love you and miss you and are sick with worry about what is happening to you every day and we are praying and meeting whoever we can to get you back home.

Please keep strong, keep praying and just be your beautiful self that I love to the moon and back. You will come home. And I promise that I’ll never complain again about your perfume sticking to me when you’re home.

Love you so much

Your Mum (who is always right!)”