All parties should return to talks to free hostages held in Gaza – minister
Foreign Office minister Hamish Falconer said a negotiated agreement is the “best chance of release” for the hostages
Britain has called on “all parties to come back to the table” to negotiate an agreement to free Emily Damari and other hostages held in Gaza.
Foreign Office minister Hamish Falconer said a negotiated agreement is the “best chance of release” for the hostages, as the case of British-Israeli Ms Damari was raised in the House of Commons.
Mandy Damari last month spoke publicly about her daughter, the sole British hostage still in Gaza, for the first time at an event commemorating the October 7 attacks on Israel.
She said Emily had been “stripped of every human right” and remains “in hell” after she was taken by Hamas.
Speaking in the chamber on Monday, Labour MP Peter Prinsley (Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket) said: “Emily is a British citizen held hostage, as the minister has said, ever since these attacks.
“Would the minister explain what measures the Government is taking to make contact with those holding the hostages so that we can bring Emily home?”
Mr Falconer replied: “Hostage cases are some of the most horrifying situations that a family could face.”
The minister said of the Damari family: “I know many people in this House have met with her family and have seen first-hand the bravery but also the agony that faces them all.
“I regret, deeply, that the best chance of release for all of the hostages is a negotiated agreement and I call on all parties to come back to the table in order to try and advance the agreement necessary to secure a release of hostages, an immediate ceasefire and a reduction in the awful violence that scars us all.”
Mr Falconer earlier insisted RAF reconnaissance flights will continue to help find hostages in Gaza.
Plaid Cymru Westminster leader Liz Saville Roberts said: “The ICC (International Criminal Court) has issued arrest warrants for crimes including direct attacks on civilians.
“Open source information shows that the RAF reconnaissance flights are going over Gaza at an average of nearly four flights a day.
“While of course we all seek the information necessary to getting the release of the hostages, how confident is he that the information used and shared with Israel from these flights has not been used to facilitate any attacks on civilians?”
Mr Falconer replied: “I will not go into operational details but I can assure the House the surveillance aircraft are unarmed, do not have a combat role and are tasked solely to locate hostages, including a British national, and they will continue to do so.”
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