Emily Damari, right, and her mother Mandy embrace near kibbutz Reim, after Emily's release from Hamas captivity last month (Israeli Army via AP)Alamy Stock Photo
Posting to social media Wednesday morning, she wrote: “Had [Starmer] been in power during the Second World War, would he have advocated recognition for Nazi control of occupied countries like Holland, France, or Poland?
“This is not diplomacy – it is a moral failure. Shame on you, prime minister.”
She added that she was “deeply saddened” by the decision, which “does not advance peace”, claiming: “It risks rewarding terror. It sends a dangerous message: that violence earns legitimacy.
“By legitimising a state entity while Hamas still controls Gaza and continues its campaign of terror, the prime minister is not promoting a solution; he is prolonging the conflict. Recognition under these conditions emboldens extremists and undermines any hope for genuine peace. Shame on you!”
Hostage advocacy groups have also issued similarly strongly-worded statements condemning the plan.
A lawyer representing the families of British hostages in Gaza claimed that they feel as though the hostages have been made “a bargaining chip” by the decision.
In a statement, Adam Wagner KC said the move risks “disincentivising” Hamas from releasing the hostages, as this was not made a pre-condition of recognition.
“We are concerned that the UK’s proposal risks delaying the release of the hostages. This is because the UK has said that it will recognise a Palestinian state unless Israel agrees a ceasefire. But the risk is that Hamas will continue to refuse to a ceasefire because if it agrees to one this would make UK recognition less likely,” he said.
His legal assistance group has, for almost two years, “encouraged the UK to use any leverage it has to help secure the release of their loved ones”.
“[The hostage families] have sat in 10 Downing Street with successive prime ministers and foreign secretaries who have looked them in the eyes and promised the UK will do everything in its power to secure the immediate and unconditional release of their loved ones, whose detention is unambiguously a war crime,” he went on.
But the move to recognise Palestinian statehood risks “doing exactly what the prime minister’s statement says the UK will not do: reward Hamas for its heinous and illegal acts,” he argued.
Yocheved and Sharone Lischitz with lawyers Adam Wagner (left) and Adm Rose (right) who have been fighting for the British-linked hostages (Photo: D Rouah-Choueke)[Missing Credit]
The hostage families, the statement added, “implore the prime minister to provide clarity and confirm, unambiguously, that Hamas will not be rewarded and that the UK will not take any substantive steps until all the hostages are free”.
Likewise, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum has claimed that recognising a Palestinian state while 50 hostages remain in Hamas tunnels “rewards” terrorism and “will be remembered throughout history as validating terrorism as a legitimate pathway to political goals”.
“Such recognition is not a step toward peace, but rather a clear violation of international law and a dangerous moral and political failure that legitimises horrific war crimes,” the group said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The essential first step toward ensuring a better future for all peoples must be the release of all hostages through a single, comprehensive deal.”
