Three relatives of Israeli hostages arrived in the UK on Monday as part of a campaign to pressure the Qatari government to secure the release of their family members.

Liran Berman, 36, is in the UK as part of his third diplomatic mission to advocate for the release of his twin brothers, Ziv and Gali, 26, who were kidnapped by Hamas from Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7. He and two other family members of hostages - Ali Albag, the father of 18-year-old hostage Liri Albag, and Ziv Abud, the girlfriend of 26-year-old hostage Eliya Cohen – are demanding senior political figures put more pressure on Qatar, whose government also happens to be the tenth largest landowner in the UK.

Protesters hold placards with the picture of 26-year-old Gali and Ziv Berman (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)

As the primary mediator for negotiations between Israel and Hamas, Qatar plays a pivotal role in deciding the fate of the hostages, and Berman is convinced that, if Qatar wanted, “the hostages would be released yesterday.”

“They are not in a rush,” Berman. “We are in a rush. Every minute is crucial. Every day that our loved one is in the tunnels is like a year for them.”

Berman is among several critics who have accused Qatar of “playing both sides” by both hosting Hamas leaders in Doha while continually investing in Western businesses and landmarks – football teams, hotels, luxury outlets – on the other.

The Shard, owned by the Qatari government

“We ask them to choose a side. They are either with us, with the Western civilization, with our values and morals, or they are hosting Hamas and funding Hamas,” Berman said. “Don't accept their money anymore. Don't go to the hotels, don't [support] the football teams.”

It is a difficult ask in London, where the Qatari emirate owns or partially owns some of the best-known landmarks in the city, including the Shard, Harrods, and a plethora of five-star hotels, and has successfully bought up enough property in Mayfair for the area to be dubbed “Little Doha.” 

Given Qatar’s stakes in Britain, the delegates came to “push whoever has the leverage and the power to put pressure on Qatar” to move the needle in the hostages’ favour during negotiations.

On Monday, Berman, Albag and Abud met with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and on Tuesday morning they met with David Cameron, former PM and current foreign secretary.

Berman believes the effort to release the hostages will only be successful when it works “on all fronts”: with the combination of military pressure, Israeli government pressure, and pressure from international governments. His role is making sure that pressure does not subside, even for a moment.

“Even if we succeed with adding 1% of pressure, then it's more than yesterday,” Berman said.

He calls the period before Oct. 7 his “former life.” In his former life, he worked in education, teaching adults with special needs, and said he had never been interested in politics. Now he campaigns full-time for his brothers’ release, meeting senior political figures around the world and interviewing with major media outlets to draw attention to the continued plight of the hostages.

“This is my life mission right now,” he said.

When he speaks about his younger brothers, Berman smiles. The twins Ziv and Gali have been best friends since birth, doing everything together, from supporting the same football teams to working together as light technicians for the same company in the music industry. Because the boys’ father has Parkinson’s and dementia, Berman said Ziv and Gali would often be at home helping their mother care for their father.

A woman holding an image of 26-year-old Israeli hostage Ziv Berman walks past graffiti calling for the release of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip since the October 7 attack by Hamas militants in southern Israel, in Jerusalem on November 18, 2023, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (Photo by GIL COHEN-MAGEN / AFP)

The only evidence that the brothers were still alive came when the first group of hostages was released in late November. A released hostage told the family they had seen Ziv and Gali separately and both appeared to have sustained minor injuries.

“We know that they were alive at least 54 days ago,” Berman said. “But now, we are in the dark again."

As for how his family is coping, Berman said it has been difficult: "We don't have good days. We have okay days. We have fine days. We have fun moments here and there, but we are dead inside. Our lives stopped on October 7th.”

Berman said his youngest child, who is two, is blissfully unaware of the situation, but his eldest child has been asking why his uncles’ photos are everywhere. Berman has told his son that Ziv and Gali have been “borrowed,” or that they are on a trip, but they will be back.

“How can you explain to a four-and-a-half-year old that his uncles have been taken hostage when we can’t even comprehend the situation?”

Berman holds a photo of Ziv and Gali. It shows two handsome, bearded young men, not quite identical but certainly twins. “They always wanted to be famous. Now they are famous for the wrong reason.”