Leading community figure Lord Levy has revealed that his 27-year-old cousin has been held by Hamas as a hostage in Gaza since October 7.

Speaking last week, the Labour life peer said the past seven months had been a “very distressing time” for his family.

“What happened was absolutely tragic, barbaric. There are no other words to describe it,” he told Sky News.

Lord Levy said he had visited Israel to meet with relatives in the Jewish state following the kidnap of his cousin, whose mother was a bridesmaid at his wedding. 

The former Labour party chief fundraiser, who played a key role in soliciting donations under Tony Blair’s leadership, said he was deeply troubled by the suffering of Palestinian civilians. 

“Similar deaths, seeing young babies killed,” he said.

"Just seeing the destruction that’s taking place. It really is just terrible.”

Lord Levy told the broadcaster: “I pray there is a way forward. How can a society live like that?

"For Israel to be constant fear, but for the Palestinians, how can they live like that? There has to be a way forward.”

Lord Levy added that he hoped extremism would not feature in the general election campaign.

“We’re all part of the United Kingdom. And frankly, extremism has no part in our society today.

“We’re in a difficult time. Whether you’re Jewish, whether you’re Muslim, or any other faith, what is going on in that region at the moment …something has to happen.

“And it really has to happen, because in Gaza right now frankly intolerable.”

The Muslim friends he know, Lord Levy added, would be “looking at the economy, the cost of living, what is going on in the health service” to decide their vote.

121 hostages seized by Hamas and other militant Palestinian groups on October 7 remain unaccounted for, with 37 thought to be dead.

Some of those killed are thought to have died as a result of IDF strikes.

Freed Israelis have said they were kept in an extensive network of underground tunnels, with some women reporting that they suffered sexual assualts while in captivity. 

ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan KC is seeking arrest warrants for a trio of senior Hamas leaders over claims that hostages were raped while in Gaza.

He said: “My Office also submits there are reasonable grounds to believe that hostages taken from Israel have been kept in inhumane conditions, and that some have been subject to sexual violence, including rape, while being held in captivity.

"We have reached that conclusion based on medical records, contemporaneous video and documentary evidence, and interviews with victims and survivors. My Office also continues to investigate reports of sexual violence committed on 7 October.”