A British hostage could walk free this weekend with a ceasefire finally agreed between Israel and Hamas.
After weeks of painstaking negotiations in Qatar, officials announced on Wednesday that Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire deal raising the possibility of winding down the deadliest and most destructive fighting between the bitter enemies.
It promises the release of dozens of hostages held by Hamas and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israel, and would allow hundreds of thousands of people displaced in Gaza to return to what remains of their homes.
Among those at the top of the list to be released is Emily Damari, who was shot in the hand and leg when she was taken by Hamas militants in southern Israel during the October 7 attack.
Sources said three hostages from a group of five women and two children will be returned to Israel on Sunday and the rest will be freed a week later, reported the Mail. Emily’s mother Mandy Damari, who was born in Surrey, has been campaigning for her release along with twin brothers Ziv and Gali Berman, 27.
Orly Goldschmidt, spokesperson for the UK’s Israeli embassy, told Sky News: “Emily Damari, a 28-year-old British-Israeli citizen, is still in the dungeon of Hamas, and we are asking for the international support, for the British support, to put pressure on Hamas to release her and the other 100 hostages.” Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the agreement offered “a moment of hope after over a year of agony” following Hamas’ “appalling attack” but “much remains to be done” to achieve lasting peace in the region.
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“For the hostages and their loved ones, including British citizen Emily Damari, and Eli Sharabi, Oded Lifschitz and Avinatan Or, this has been an unbearable trauma. For the people of Gaza, so many of whom have lost lives, homes or loved ones, this has been a living nightmare. For the region, this has brought yet more division and conflict,” he said.
“We will play our full part in the coming days and weeks, working alongside our partners, to seize this chance for a better future.” Sir Keir Starmer has welcomed the Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal as “long-overdue news” and paid tribute to British citizens who were killed during the conflict in the Middle East.
The UK Prime Minister said Britain would join its allies in continuing work to “break the cycle of violence and secure long-term peace” for Israelis and Palestinians, which he said would be grounded in a two-state solution. He paid tribute to “those who won’t make it home – including the British people who were murdered by Hamas.” At least a dozen British citizens and some 1,200 Israelis were killed the surprise Hamas cross-border attack on October 7 2023 which triggered months of fighting.
In a statement on Wednesday evening, the Prime Minister said: “After months of devastating bloodshed and countless lives lost, this is the long-overdue news that the Israeli and Palestinian people have desperately been waiting for. They have borne the brunt of this conflict – triggered by the brutal terrorists of Hamas, who committed the deadliest massacre of Jewish people since the Holocaust on October 7 2023.
“The hostages, who were brutally ripped from their homes on that day and held captive in unimaginable conditions ever since, can now finally return to their families. But we should also use this moment to pay tribute to those who won’t make it home – including the British people who were murdered by Hamas. We will continue to mourn and remember them.
“For the innocent Palestinians whose homes turned into a warzone overnight and the many who have lost their lives, this ceasefire must allow for a huge surge in humanitarian aid, which is so desperately needed to end the suffering in Gaza.
“And then our attention must turn to how we secure a permanently better future for the Israeli and Palestinian people – grounded in a two-state solution that will guarantee security and stability for Israel, alongside a sovereign and viable Palestine state. The UK and its allies will continue to be at the forefront of these crucial efforts to break the cycle of violence and secure long-term peace in the Middle East.”
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