British hostage’s mother criticises Lammy for ignoring her plea on aid
Mandy Damari tells of disappointment at foreign secretary's failure to call publicly for aid to the captives in Gaza hours after she appealed to him directly
The mother of the last British hostage held by Hamas has expressed disappointment with David Lammy after he failed to call publicly for aid to the Israeli captives hours after she appealed directly to him.
While thanking the prime minister and the leaders of the three main parties for raising Emily Damari’s plight during a visit to London this week, she said the trip had not been wholly positive.
Mandy Damari told a press conference this morning: “On Monday, I spoke at the annual Labour Friends of Israel event in front of around 100 MPs, including the foreign secretary. I used my time to specifically and repeatedly ask for action on the hostage aid situation and I had estimated that my call to action had been well received.
“A few hours after my speech, the foreign secretary published a statement calling for Israel to allow more aid into Gaza for the winter, but there was no mention of the need to get any of that aid to Emily and the other hostages, and no additional remarks have been made on the subject since then. I appreciate the foreign secretary’s voice in our personal meetings, but as I have said, I came for solutions, not sympathy.”
Emily, 28, was kidnapped from her home on Kibbutz Kfar Aza during 7 October attacks.
Reading from a lengthy statement alongside Lord Polak, Ms Damari said: “Hamas has a record of using rape as a weapon of war against women that must be condemned in every corner of the world, and the list of horrors goes on and on in Israel. I spend my time campaigning for a ceasefire deal that would see the hostages come home.
“Nobody wants peace more than I do. A hostage deal may be weeks, months or even further away. Meanwhile, their condition deteriorates every single hour. Much more needs to be done, and much more can be done to keep every and the other hostages alive while they remain in captivity. Otherwise, they will all die at the most painful and tragic deaths imaginable in the tunnels. many already have and words alone will not save those who still remain for 14 months.”
She thanked Nigel Farage, Matthew Patrick, John Pearce, Priti Patel, Baroness Foster and other parliamentarians she met, who “all immediately looked to what they could do within their powers to move this issue forward”.
She highlighted how Sir Keir Starmer raised Emily’s plight with the Emir of Qatar in their meeting yesterday, although a planned meeting between herself and the Qatari PM never materialised. “I’ve had several positive interactions with the Qatari government and their negotiators in the past year, and hope to hear news of British Qatari cooperation on getting aid to the hostages and, of course, bringing them home,” she added.
She also highlighted how Spurs fans had mobilised to sing for Emily, a fellow supporter, and urged the club to take up her cause at an official level.
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