Labour Friends of Israel (LFI)’s new parliamentary chair Jon Pearce urged the government to do all it could to bring home the remaining hostages held by Hamas.
In an adjournment debate in the House of Commons, organised by Pearce on the anniversary of October 7 on Monday night, the MP for High Peak described Hamas’s actions as “a pogrom in which at least 1,195 Israelis and 79 foreign nationals from some 30 countries were murdered, over 4,800 people were injured and more than 250 men, women and children were taken hostage”.
He continued: “It was the worst terrorist attack in Israel’s history and the bloodiest day in the history of the Jewish people since the Holocaust.”
The Derbyshire MP paid tribute to Emily Damari, a 28-year-old British-born hostage held by Hamas for over a year.
Pearce told MPs: “I think we have all been touched by the campaign that her mother Mandy continues to run in her name. She says that Emily has never lost touch with her British roots; Emily loves Spurs, Robbie Williams and Cadbury’s chocolate buttons, and makes a fine cup of tea.
"Emily’s family have not seen her for 366 days. She was violently kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Aza. Her beloved puppy was shot and killed in her arms as Emily was dragged from her home in her pyjamas.”
“Hamas has refused the Red Cross access to Emily and the other hostages, but news of Emily came during last November’s hostage release”. He added: “In the tunnels, those who were released said that Emily had been singing a song to the young girls every morning, called ‘Boker shel kef’—'It’s a great morning’.”
Labour’s Sharon Hodgson, MP for Washington and Gateshead South, also paid tribute to Damari’s mother: “I listened to Emily Damari’s mum Mandy at the memorial in Hyde park yesterday, pleading with us all who were present to do something to help her daughter.
"As a mum to an Emily, who is exactly the same age as her Emily will be now, I am here tonight to ask if my honourable Friend will join me in pleading with the minister and our government to work night and day to ensure that Emily and the other 100 hostages still being held in unimaginable horror in Gaza are released as soon as humanly possible.”
Former We Believe in Israel Director, Luke Akehurst, now Labour MP for North Durham, said it was one of the “tragic ironies” of Hamas’s atrocities that they chose to attack kibbutzim and moshavim “the residents of which practised what they preached about co-existence and peace … they were people straining every sinew to bring about peace and who believed in a two-state solution. I cannot stop thinking about the horrors that were visited on them that day.”
Responding for the government, Foreign Minister Stephen Doughty said “we continue to demand the immediate and unconditional release of Emily and all the other hostages” and repeated calls for a ceasefire. He also defended the government’s controversial decision to restore funding to UN Palestinian agency Unrwa and told the Commons: “We lifted the UK’s funding pause on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, following robust action taken to ensure its neutrality, and released £21 million to support Unrwa’s humanitarian appeal in Gaza and its provision of basic services.”
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and opposition leader Rishi Sunak both urged the release of hostages held by Hamas and attacked the malign influence of Iran in the Middle East. Some MPs, however, used the anniversary to demand tougher government action against Israel.
A parliamentary commemoration of the anniversary of October 7 attended by Israel's Ambassador to the UK Tzipi Hotovely (centre wearing red) and parliamentarians including: former pensions minister Baroness Altmann (right), Conservative MPs Bob Blackman (second on right) and Nus Ghani (third on the right) and Labour MP Damien Egan (second on left).
Elsewhere on the parliamentary estate, a private commemoration ceremony attended by Israel’s ambassador to the UK Tzipi Hotovely was held.
The event, organised at the initiative of members from the Commons and Lords, had to be moved to a large select committee room to accommodate the over 100 parliamentarians wishing to pay their respects.
Former pensions minister Baroness Altmann delivered a solemn tribute to the 15 British victims and British hostages. She read out their names and biographies and highlighted her hope for the safe return of those held in Gaza by terrorists.
Conservative MP for Harrow East and chair of the 1922 Committee of backbench Conservatives told those present: “We must remember that over 6,000 Hamas terrorists deliberately raped, tortured and killed innocents just because they were Jewish. Israel faces attacks on seven fronts and we will stand shoulder to shoulder in defending the right of Israel to exist in peace, harmony and security.”
Damien Egan, Labour MP for Bristol North East, warned about the rise in antisemitism in the UK in the aftermath of Hamas’s actions on October 7 in Israel: “One of the perverse consequences of the attacks on Israel has been the immediate escalation in antisemitism. Rising in recent years, recorded antisemitic crimes are now at record levels in this country. And just as people seek to deny and justify the Holocaust, people also seek to deny October 7.”
The event concluded with a heartfelt memorial prayer led by Rabbi Daniel Epstein of Marble Arch Synagogue and a moment of silence was observed.
