Mother of British hostage accuses UK government of failing to secure release of daughter

— Mandy Damari 🎗 (@DamariMandy) January 12, 2025

She made reference to her trip to London in December, where she met with senior politicians including Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy, to plead for help in bringing her daughter and the other remaining hostages home.

“I left London with more sympathy than I knew what to do with, but not anything in the way of action or results,” she said.

While Damari was grateful that the UK government had raised the profile of Emily’s plight in public and private meetings, she said her calls to action had been ignored.

She said she asked Britain to publicly call for humanitarian aid to be delivered to the hostages, and to use its influence over Qatar and Turkey to change Hamas’ policies, but that she received no answers.

“I did not ask for the moon. I simply asked that someone show up and stand up for my daughter, as any mother would,” she said.

In contrast to her attitude towards the UK government, she thanked President-elect Donald Trump for giving the relatives of the hostages “strength” and “comfort”.

It comes after Trump issued a statement in December threatening that there would be “hell to pay” for Hamas if the hostages were not released by his inauguration on January 20.

“You are Emily’s champion now, and I believe in you, that you can finally bring her and every last hostage back home,” Damari said to the crowds.

She also expressed her thanks to Tottenham Hotspur fans, who have been holding weekly rallies, distributing flyers with images of Emily wearing a Spurs scarf and chanting, “She’s one of our own”.

Last week, many hundreds of yellow balloons were released into the air during a football match between Spurs and Newcastle United in a show of solidarity with Emily, a “lifelong” Spurs fan.

Speaking on Saturday night, Damari made reference to Youssef and Hamza al-Ziyadne, the father and son found dead in the Gaza Strip on January 7

Al-Ziyadne, 53, and his son Hamza, 22, were from the Bedouin town of Rahat in southern Israel, and kidnapped by Hamas on October 7.

“We should all remember Youssef and Hamza Al-Ziyadne, nobody should have to go through what they did,” Damari said.

“To go into Gaza alive and come back dead after so long and so much suffering, and so much hope. Two more preventable tragedies. Two more acts of evil by Hamas, who treat Muslims and Christians just as badly as they treat Jews.”

She ended her speech with a direct address to her daughter, assuring her that “not a second goes by that we are not thinking of you”.

"Emily, lulu, if somehow you can hear me, know this — all of us here at Sha’ar HaNegev, your family, we love you to the moon and back.

"Our love for you is unbreakable, and we will not rest until you are home, safe in our arms. Hold on, my love, because we are holding on for you.”

Writing for the JC in November, Lammy said securing the safe release of all hostages, including Emily and those with strong UK-links, is a top priority for the government.

"The Prime Minister and I have personally raised her case with the Israeli government, with partners in the region, and with close allies like the United States,” he wrote, adding that since Labour’s first day in office, “it has been our priority to push for a ceasefire in Gaza, to secure the release of all the hostages, protect civilians and deliver a surge of aid into Gaza”.