Relatives of hostages in Gaza warn MPs: ‘Act now or Europe is next’
'They didn’t just murder Israelis on October 7; they murdered Christians, Muslims, Americans… if someone doesn’t stop the fundamentalists, there is a big problem.'
Jenni Frazer is a freelance journalist
Relatives of some of those still held hostage in Gaza told British politicians this week that “Europe is next” in the war against terrorism — a point made forcefully and which Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary David Cameron said they “understood”.
Ziv Abud, whose boyfriend Eliya Cohen was taken captive at the Nova Music festival, Eli Albag, whose 18-year-old daughter Liri is one of the youngest hostages, and Liran Berman, whose twin brothers Ziv and Gali were taken from their home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, were in London for the first of a round of talks with political leaders in Europe, and Washington DC.
Each has a harrowing story about their kidnapped loved ones — and part of their mission is to highlight the role played by Qatar in backing Hamas.
The families believe that Qatar could “snap its fingers” and the hostages would be released immediately. A bitter Liran Berman described Qatar’s high level investment in UK as “blood money” being used “to whitewash their image”.
Eli Albag’s daughter Liri was kidnapped from a bomb shelter near the border on October 7. Thirteen others in the shelter were murdered, eight escaped, and seven — including Liri — were taken captive.
Foreign Secretary @David_Cameron: "The taking of hostages is barbaric. As a dad of children of a similar age, I can only imagine the turmoil they are going through. The UK is doing everything it can to ensure all the hostages, including the two British nationals, are released as… pic.twitter.com/XyJs8LejBK
— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) January 23, 2024
Fifty days after they were captured, Eli Albag said, some pictures had been made public showing the captured girls. He has heard nothing since.
Asked about the disruption of a Knesset finance committee on Monday, Albag said he would have “done more to wake up the government” if he had been in Israel. “The government is not working for the hostages”, he complained. “They are working for money for the coalition, all the things which were in place before October 7.”
Michal Rahoom, Ziv Abud’s close friend, is accompanying the delegation and also lost people to Hamas terror at the festival.
She said: “We want people to have the same mindset as we have, because time is running out. Every single day that they [the captives] are there in Gaza, is dangerous. Every couple of days, there is a message that one of the hostages is no longer alive, that this hostage was murdered. They say that [the hostages are dead] because of fire from our army, but it’s not true.”
“We know this because when we see the bodies, we see that Hamas beat them, that they got strangled and shot. Our army did not do this. It is terrifying, the fact that every single day that they are underground, without food, without water, that they are hurt, they don’t have medicine. They get nothing. We sent so many things to the hostages, but they got nothing,” she added.
Ziv Abud, who was trapped for six hours under a pile of young, dead festival-goers, until she was finally rescued by the IDF, said: “It’s important to say that even with news of signs of life, that can change today or tomorrow. We want to bring them back soon, because there is a chance that we are fighting, not for nothing, but for a body”.
Liran Herman, at 36, is 10 years older than his identical twin brothers, Ziv and Gali. He last heard about them 54 days ago when a previous group of hostages were released. The freed captives had seen the twins and reported that they had been separated and had “minor injuries. They were being kept in different places, we were told — and they were being moved every two or three days.”
Eli Albag also last heard about his daughter from people who were released, but he, too, has heard nothing since November 26 last year. “She spent 27 days at the beginning with one family”, he was told, “and the rest of the time —until November 26 — with another civilian family.”
Shaking his head, he said his 18-year-old daughter had sent a message: “That she was okay and that we need to be strong. Her sister was supposed to fly abroad for a trip and Liri said that she should keep on with this”.
None of the captives, their relatives said, knew whether it was night or day outside the tunnels where they were being held. Those that were being held in apartments were taunted by Hamas “that Israel does not exist any more, that nobody cares about them and that they would stay in Gaza for the rest of their lives”.
All the relatives had made it clear to Rishi Sunak and David Cameron that the key to releasing the hostages was Qatar and its continued financial support for Hamas, together with the fact that Hamas leaders were living in Qatar. Liran Herman said their focus was entirely on Qatar — “we don’t bother with the Red Cross any more, they are a waste of time. We have better cab drivers in Israel than the Red Cross”.
Sunak and Cameron had told the relatives that they were due to have talks in Cairo and Doha and that they would highlight the issue. Herman added: “We asked them to stop with the tea and sympathy. Sympathy is ok, but three months into this, we need actions. We thanked them for what they did so far, but they need to keep pushing”.
He said they had told the British leaders on Monday: “It happened in Israel on October 7 and we have borders, and we have an army. Europe is next. You don’t have borders, or fences. Your army is for the outside of the country, not inside. You are next”.
Michal Rahoom added: “We told them, we are not in a war between army and army. This is an army defending its country against a terror organisation that just wants to murder. They didn’t just murder Israelis on October 7; they murdered Christians, Muslims, Americans… if someone doesn’t stop the fundamentalists, there is a big problem. And Sunak and Cameron understand that: and London understands that”.
The relatives asked the Jewish community to be as pro-active as possible in calling for the release of the hostages on social media. “Don’t be silent”, they implored.
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