Family and friends of loved ones of hostages held by Hamas say Sir Keir Starmer is “rewarding terror” by offering to recognise a Palestinian state before they are released.
Members of Britain’s Jewish community and supporters, including the UK’s Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis, took part in the National March For The Hostages to the gates of Downing Street on Sunday to deliver their stark message to Number 10.
The demonstration comes after Sir Keir announced the UK could see Palestine as a sovereign nation by September, a move which one senior Hamas official called the “fruits of October 7” – referring to the 2023 massacre when terrorists crossed into Israel from Gaza and killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped 250 more.
Relatives of those kidnapped have called upon the Prime Minister to insist that Hamas first release every one of the 50 remaining hostages in Gaza before any talks by his Government about recognising Palestine.
Downing Street have said the diplomatic move to recognise a Palestinian state could be stopped if Israel ‘allow more aid into Gaza, stop the expansion of West Bank settlements, agrees to a ceasefire, and signs up to a long-term peace process over the next two months’. Defending his decision Sir Keir has previously said he had a “sense of revulsion” seeing images of starvation in Gaza, but that Hamas could have “no part in any future government”.
At one stage a pro-Palestine protester appeared to try and disrupt the procession of hostage campaigners and families, and photos showed the man clashing with supporters. Among those marching on Downing Street at the weekend were British relatives of Avinatan Or, 31, who was kidnapped from the Nova music festival with his girlfriend Noa Argamani.
Mr Or’s cousin Ariel Felber, from London, said: “Keir Starmer has failed the hostages and their families by not making it a condition that all the remaining hostages are brought home to their loved ones before he can even entertain talk of state recognition of Palestine. He urgently needs to correct this.”
Adam Ma’anit, from London, whose cousin Tsachi Idan was murdered in captivity after Hamas also killed his 18-year-old daughter on October 7, said: “This is not diplomacy, it’s capitulation.
“It rewards terror, legitimises hostage‑taking, and abandons the hostages and their families. We tried desperately to bring my cousin Tsachi home alive and we were failed. We cannot fail the others.
“I think that the Government got it wrong with its foreign policy, that it’s time for it to correct and refocus on the hostages, and also to understand that by bringing the hostages, freeing the hostages, and helping to bring that about will also help us to unlock new pathways for solving the crisis in the Middle East.
He added: “They threatened to recognise the state of Palestine if there was no ceasefire with Hamas. But that’s a reverse incentive because why would Hamas want to have a ceasefire if it can get, by default, recognition of the Palestinian state?”
This month Hamas released sickening video of emaciated hostage Evyatar David, aged 24, who was filmed digging his own grave in a tunnel in Gaza.
Steve Brisley; from Bridgend, Wales, whose sister Lianne Sharabi and nieces Noiya, 16, Yahel, 13, were murdered on October 7, and his brother in law Eli taken hostage, commented: “As British families of hostages and victims, devastated by the ongoing suffering of our loved ones, our emotional torture has been exacerbated by the suggestion that the UK may recognise a Palestinian state without securing the release of the hostages as an absolute precondition. This is not about politics. This is about basic humanity.”
In Gaza, the Hamas-run health authority estimates around 60,000 people have been killed since the war began triggered by the October 7 attack on Israel. The authorities in the enclave claim the death toll includes more than 18,000 children and more than 9,700 women.
The march by hostage families on Downing Street comes a day after police arrested 532 people at a protest in support of a banned pro-Palestinian terror group. On Saturday protesters sought to pressure the government to overturn its decision to proscribe the group Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation. Legislation passed last month makes it a crime to publicly support the group.
The Metropolitan Police Service said it arrested 522 people for supporting Palestine Action. A further 10 were arrested on other charges, including assaults on police officers.
