Mother of British hostage accuses Starmer of putting ‘another nail in Emily’s coffin’

The mother of a British hostage being held in Gaza has accused the government of delivering a message to Hamas that the terror group can kill her daughter.

Mandy Damari, the mother of Emily, 28, the only British hostage still being held by terrorists in Gaza, accused Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer of putting “another nail in [Emily’s] coffin” after the UK supported a United Nations ceasefire vote.

Posting on X, Damari recalled Starmer’s pledge to bring Emily home in a ceasefire deal.

Noting that the UK voted in favour of the UN General Assembly resolution calling for an unconditional ceasefire in Gaza, Damari suggested that the PM had broken his promise.

Damari posted on X: “Last week @Keir_Starmer you told me that Britain would not support a ceasefire without the release of Emily and the hostages.

“This week the UK voted yet again for an unconditional ceasefire. A message to Hamas that they can kill Emily. Another nail in her coffin. I am devastated.”

Damari’s comment comes a day after the British-Israeli mother joined X to advocate for her daughter’s release.

Her first post on Thursday was in response to Foreign Secretary David Lammy announcing an additional package of £13m to the controversial aid agency UNRWA (the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East).

Damari told Lammy: “I hope that part of the £13 million in new aid to UNRWA can also be directed toward supporting the hostages. They are enduring inhumane conditions in the tunnels. I am desperate for Emily to be kept alive until we can safely bring her home.”

She has repeatedly called for all hostages in Gaza to be released without condition and have access to humanitarian aid. This week, Damari called for any potential deal to include her daughter.

During her visit to the UK last week, Damari met leaders of all of the political parties, including Starmer and Lammy.

She told members of the government: “Let's be honest, nothing that has been tried so far has really made any difference.

“I’m asking the government to lead this effort on the international stage to secure Emily and the other surviving hostages that doctors visit, and clean food and water, to keep all the hostages alive while the campaign to bring them home continues. It’s time to convert all the goodwill in this room into doing good in the world.”

She added: “I believe that Emily is out there fighting with everything she has to stay alive. We owe it to her, to ourselves and to all the hostages to fight just as hard.”