Barbaric acts of hostage taking such as that carried out by Hamas on October 7th will happen again unless it is properly addressed by the government, Westminster’s Foreign Affairs Select Committee has been told.
Leading barrister Adam Wagner told the committee, chaired by former shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberrry: “The point of the hostage taking wasn’t just a random act.
“It’s something that the terrorist organisations such as Hamas have been trying to achieve and have been doing for years.
“And as a tactic, it works because it’s a form of psychological terror. It creates divisions within societies and divisions within the families who are just trying to advocate for their loved ones”.
Emily Thornberry
The human rights lawyer also suggested that neither the previous Conservative government, nor that currently led by Keir Starmer had shown it wanted “to be a leader in fighting against international terrorism and particularly hostage taking.”
“The UK has chosen not to be in the room, and we’ve been told repeatedly that it’s that that’s a very that’s a specific choice that they’ve made,” Wagner said.
“Let the Americans and the Qataris and the Israelis and the Egyptians do the direct negotiations, and we’ll be in the outer circle, sort of influencing, if we can.
“That’s a choice as well, and it’s not a choice that necessarily needs to be continued… Britain could take more responsibility.”
Appearing alongside his legal colleague Adam Rose, and Sharone Lifschitz, the British-Israeli whose parents were taken hostage in Gaza, the trio all expressed concern about international approaches to deal with the impact of the actions of Hamas in relation to the taking of hostages.
“If it is not properly addressed by not just Israel, but by the international community, then that’s an encouragement for it to happen again and for it to be used as a tactic,” added Wagner, during Tuesday’s session.
He also told the committee: “The taking of 251 hostages on the 7th of October is one of those extraordinary elements that needs to really be thought through.
“And those 251 hostages were mostly civilians. They were women, men, children, older people, including Sharone’s parents.”
Lifschitz recalled the horrific kidnapping of her parents Yocheved, 86, and Oded, 84 by Hamas terrorists over 14 months ago.
Her father Oded remains missing in Gaza, while her mother was one of those fortunate enough to be returned from the horrific ordeal.
Asked what more could be done by the government to bring the hostages home, Lifschitz said: “I don’t know, we have failed to bring my father back home.
“So I personally feel a huge sense of failure. I don’t think anybody involved in it can feel it’s been a success.
“So in that respect, no, I think the government must be very clear, continuously clear, that it has citizens and closely linked hostages, and that they are responsible for them, and their responsibility is 100 per cent.”
“I’ve been quite vocal about what should happen with the hostages,” she also told the committee.
“I’ve been quite vocal about thinking how we get from here to hostages release and the return of sanity for the people of the region.
“I haven’t been witnessing, really very much that is about finding a unified story that helps the hostages return.
“But I think, as the Prime Minister said, this will be done as part of a negotiated ceasefire. I think if you ask me what needs to be done, that’s one of them.”
Lawyer Rose added:”Today is over 430 days since the 7th of october 2023 and as lawyers one step removed from the family, we see occasional glimmers of progress.
“We saw the Prime Minister calling for the unconditional and immediate release of the hostages a few weeks ago.
“But we don’t see the UK taking specific action for its citizens and for those closely connected to the UK to whom it committed to seek their immediate and unconditional release.”
Asked specifically what they thought the UK government should be doing in the horrendous situation, Wagner said:”It’s not an easy question to answer, because it’s unclear still, the extent to it which Britain has in its gift, excuse me, the ability to influence this situation.
“And we’ve been told very different things. I mean, we’ve been dealing with two different governments, three different foreign secretaries, you know, two different prime ministers, and our hostage families have met them all. And so we’ve heard different things.
“And we’ve been told that Britain has got no influence at all in the Middle East, that Britain can do something…
“It’s 100 people, it’s a few people, quite a small group, who are in the negotiating camp.
“The influence can be brought to bear by the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary, if they want to, that’s our experience. And it really comes down to leadership.
“Does this country want to be a leader in fighting against international terrorism and particularly hostage taking?”
Wagner said this was something we had yet to see from either the previous Tory or current Labour government.
Later in the session Lifschitz expressed concern about the lack of scrutiny the committee gave to Husam Zomlot, Head of the Palestine Mission to the UK, as he delivered evidence which failed to tackle the negative impact Hamas had on any prospect of peace in the region.
“I think at the heart of it is the question of Hamas,” she said. ” And one of the things that really surprised me about the Zomlot’s presentation, that very little, very rarely, was he challenged on Hamas.
“And it is Hamas who prepared his population for this. Hamas who took hostages, Hamas who put the hostages in hospitals and put them in people’s homes.
“Hamas who put friends of my mother in the home of UNRWA employees.
“And so there’s this kind of generality that he talks about Israel, as if all of Israel is the same.
“Well, I know my friends have been demonstrating against the government for years in any way possible, and yet he took no responsibility for Hamas.”
