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22 hours ago
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A British-Israeli woman who was held hostage by Hamas for more than 15 months has accused Keir Starmer of “moral failure” after he set the UK on course to recognise a Palestinian state.
Emily Damari, 29, who was released in January, said the prime minister was “not standing on the right side of history” and should be ashamed.
Her criticism came as lawyers representing British families of hostages held in Gaza by Hamas said the UK government’s intention to recognise a Palestinian state ran the risk of disincentivising the release of captives.
Starmer said on Tuesday that the UK would recognise a Palestinian state in September unless the Israeli government abided by a ceasefire and committed to a two-state solution to the conflict.
The UK government also said Hamas must release all hostages immediately, disarm, sign up to a ceasefire and accept it would play no role in the government of Gaza.
In a post on Instagram, Damari said: “Prime Minister Starmer is not standing on the right side of history. Had he been in power during World War II, would he have advocated recognition for Nazi control of occupied countries like Holland, France or Poland?
“This is not diplomacy – it is a moral failure. Shame on you, prime minister.
“As a dual British-Israeli citizen who survived 471 days in Hamas captivity, I am deeply saddened by Prime Minister Starmer’s decision to recognise Palestinian statehood. This move does not advance peace – it risks rewarding terror. It sends a dangerous message: that violence earns legitimacy.”
Damari was shot in the leg and hand when she was dragged from her home in the Kfar Aza kibbutz on 7 October 2023. She was taken from the safe room of her house with her friends Ziv and Gali Berman, twin brothers who are still being held in Gaza.
Since her release as part of a ceasefire deal, Damari has campaigned for the release of about 20 hostages believed to be still alive and for the bodies of about 30 dead hostages to be returned to their families.
In a separate statement, Adam Rose and Adam Wagner, who have represented relatives of hostages who are either British or have close British ties since 7 October 2023, said the UK had made the hostages a “bargaining chip”. They said: “The risk is that Hamas will continue to refuse a ceasefire because if it agrees to one this would make UK recognition less likely.”
The families they represented had asked Starmer to “confirm, unambiguously, that Hamas will not be rewarded and that the UK will not take any substantive steps until all the hostages are free”.
They added: “For almost two years, the British hostage families have encouraged the UK to use any leverage it has to help secure the release of their loved ones. They have sat in 10 Downing Street with successive prime ministers and foreign secretaries who have looked them in the eyes and promised the UK will do everything in its power to secure the immediate and unconditional release of their loved ones, whose detention is unambiguously a war crime.
“We are concerned that the UK’s proposal risks delaying the release of the hostages. This is because the UK has said that it will recognise a Palestinian state unless Israel agrees a ceasefire. But the risk is that Hamas will continue to refuse a ceasefire because if it agrees to one this would make UK recognition less likely.
“The families are therefore deeply concerned that the UK’s approach risks disincentivising Hamas from releasing the hostages. This risks doing exactly what the prime minister’s statement says the UK will not do: reward Hamas for its heinous and illegal acts.”
