Lord Cameron meets with UK-based families of Hamas terror attack victims
The foreign secretary said he had offered 'my sincere condolences for the appalling acts of terror and violence', at Monday's meeting
Lee Harpin is the Jewish News's political editor
Lord David Cameron has met with the UK based families of those murdered and taken hostage by Hamas in the October 7th terror atrocity in Israel, days after the government was criticised for its response to their concerns.
The foreign secretary confirmed he had met with “Stephen Brisley, Sharon Sharabi, and other families” on Monday where he “offered my sincere condolences for the appalling acts of terror and violence.”
Cameron added they had “discussed what more we can do to help”
He said:”We will support them through their ordeal and continue to work tirelessly to get all hostages home.”
Today I held meetings with families whose loved ones have been murdered and taken hostage by Hamas.
I spoke to Stephen Brisley, Sharon Sharabi, and other families.
I offered my sincere condolences for the appalling acts of terror and violence of October 7th and we discussed… pic.twitter.com/LiQ6wbNe6x— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) December 4, 2023
In an emotional speech delivered at last weeks annual Labour Friends of Israel lunch in central London, Brisley, had told of his struggle to come to terms with the murder of his sister Lianne Sharabi along with his two nieces Yahel,13, and Noiya,16, by the terrorists in kibbutz Be’eri, close to the Gaza border.
Two other family members Eli and Yosi,53, remain kidnapped but Brisley accused the UK government of remaining “silent” over efforts to locate them and bring them home.
Brisley referenced his own parents Peter and Gill, who live in South Wales and are in their 70s, attempt to raise the matter with the prime minister.
He revealed:”It’s now over a month since my parents wrote personally to Rishi Sunak, setting out their feelings of isolation and abandonment by the British government. That letter remains unanswered.”
Brisley added:”Last Thursday, David Cameron visited Kibbutz Be’eri.
“His feet broke the dirt into which the blood of my sister and two nieces is soaked. And yet, neither he, nor his predecessor, has seen fit to meet with the British families who have been traumatised by their loss and who, every day, live in uncertainty about the fate of their relatives in captivity.
“When will the names Lianne, Noiya, Yahel, Eli and Yosi pass from the lips of the British government?”
Labour shadow foreign secretary David Lammy, who delivered the keynote speech at last Tuesday’s event, responded to Brisley’s speech telling the audience he would be raising the matter with Lord Cameron immediately.
Responding to Monday’s meeting with Lord Cameron, Brisley said he was “grateful for the opportunity to tell you our family’s story and to agree a way forward.”
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