- Lianne, Yahel, and Noiya Sharabi were killed by Hamas terrorists on October 7
- The girls’ father Eli is still missing, and is believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza
British relatives of Israelis killed and taken hostage by Hamas during the terrorists’ October 7 attack have said they feel ‘utterly abandoned’ by the UK government and slammed ministers’ response to the crisis as ‘impotent and inadequate’.
Pete and Gill Brisley, whose daughter and granddaughters were slaughtered by Hamas while their son-in-law was taken hostage, wrote to Rishi Sunak over a month ago, their son said, but never got a response to their letter.
Their daughter, British citizen Lianne Sharabi, 48, and her teenage daughters Noiya and Yahel, were brutally murdered by Palestinian gunmen in Kibbutz Be’eri, near the border with Gaza. The girls’ father, Eli, and his brother Yossi were taken hostage.
The Brisleys are among a group of British families who feel ‘hugely let down and hugely frustrated’ as they await news about their loved ones, their lawyer told The Telegraph, and who want to see more engagement from the government.
Lianne’s brother, Steve Brisley, 47, who lives in Bridgend, said he feels the Prime Minister seems to be just paying ‘lip service’ to the crisis.
He slammed what he called ‘photo opportunities’ during Rishi Sunak’s visit to Israel, and questioned why Foreign Minister David Cameron had not made more effort to speak with his family in the UK.
‘One thing that I found particularly difficult and contemptuous was that David Cameron visited Kibbutz Be’eri, my sister’s home, last week,’ he said.
‘So he’s trodden in the dirt into which the blood of my sister and my nieces is soaked, and yet neither he nor his predecessor has seen fit to engage with the British families.
‘He doesn’t need to don a flak jacket and Kevlar helmet to engage with us. But if there’s a press opportunity in Israel, then they’re there.’
He said that while the family had received a letter from then-Foreign Secretary James Cleverly expressing his condolences over their loss, his parents had not had a specific response to their letter to the Prime Minister, sent on October 24.
The public sector worker, who said his grandfather served in Second World War, also added: ‘If we can’t rely on our Government in our hour of need, then, you know, is all that public service for nothing?’
He delivered a speech to the annual Labour Friends of Israel reception in London on Tuesday, during which he criticised the government’s ‘silence’ over the hostage situation.
‘We have seen a number of hostages released over the past few days and we are, of course, heartened by this,’ Jewish News reports Brisley as having said.
‘But we have also seen how fragile these agreements areand how time is of the essence. My government can help my British family – Eli and Yosi’s British family – by meeting with us and intervening in a meaningful way and in a way which acknowledges its obligations towards Eli and Yosi and members of my British family.
‘But they are silent. How can I be reassured that my government’s voice is being heard on the international scene, when I cannot even be reassured that my government has heard my voice?’
Other Britons are also waiting to hear news about their loved ones, including Sharone Lifschitz, an artist and academic whose mother Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, was among the first released while her father Oded, 84, remains in captivity.
Ayelet Svatitzky has also described how her ‘life stopped’ when she found out her brother Nadav Popplewell, a British citizen, was being held hostage.
The British-Israeli national’s brother Roi was killed by Hamas and her mother Channa Perry, 79, was released last Friday.
Adam Rose, a lawyer representing the families, said they share the Brisley’s frustrations with the government’s lack of communication.
The criticism comes as Ada Sagi, the mother of a British psychotherapist, was released by Hamas along with 11 others as part of a temporary truce deal with Israel.
Noam Sagi, 53, reunited with his 75-year-old mother at a hospital in Tel Aviv after her hostage ordeal, which lasted over 50 days.
As he waited for his mother to arrive, he told the BBC of her condition following the weeks in captivity: ‘She’s sharp, she’s funny, she’s witty. She’s her own self.
He added: ‘I’m over the moon… it really is a beautiful, amazing moment, it’s just crazy.’
Sagi, who has campaigned tirelessly in London and Israel for the release of all 240 hostages taken by Hamas into Gaza, said the ongoing hostage release process during the temporary ceasefire has been ‘bittersweet’.
He said that he wanted to see all hostages, including Eli and Yossi, returned home.
‘We call on every government, international agency and NGO to do whatever it takes to get every man, woman and child taken hostage on October 7 back where they belong – with their families.
‘Enough with the games and enough with the psychological torture. Bring them home. Bring them all home, and do it now.’
The extended truce, which is due to end on Wednesday, has seen the number of captives in Gaza reduced to 161, based on Israel’s latest update.
William Turner is a seasoned U.K. correspondent with a deep understanding of domestic affairs. With a passion for British politics and culture, he provides insightful analysis and comprehensive coverage of events within the United Kingdom.
