David Lammy twice referenced a meeting he had earlier on Monday with released hostage Eli Sharabi as he delivered a crucial Commons statement outlining the UK position on the Iran and wider conflict in the Middle East.
The Foreign Secretary had hosted Sharabi in his Westminster office, where he gave Lammy a deeply personal account of the torture and starvation he suffered during 440 days of brutal Hamas captivity.
Sharabi also implored the UK to ensure that even during the Israel-Iran crisis the hostages remained a priority, and questioned him on what the UK is doing to help secure the release of the 50 remaining hostages.
Eli Sharabi outside the Foreign Office with representatives including lawyers Adam Wagner and Adam Rose
Later as he delivered a statement to MPs, Lammy was questioned by the Labour MP Jessica Morden about the situation in Gaza, and the need for the UK to continue pressing for more aid to get into the region.
He responded saying:”This morning I sat in my office with Eli Sharabi who managed to get out of a Hamas cell, but lost many family members during that journey.
“He talked about the starvation he experienced – going down to 44 kilograms after being 70 when he went in.
“It was humbling to hear his story. And to be reminded that the humanitarian catastrophe affected everyone in Gaza.
“He did say that Hamas ate plenty, and watched him, and others with him, starve.”
David Lammy in the Commons
Earlier, as he began his statement , Lammy told MPs that the government would not overlook the “catastrophic” plight of Gazans and the hostages and the ordeal for their loved ones.
He added:”Today I met Eli Sharabi, held in chains by Iranian-backed terrorists.
“Who was released only to discover they had murdered his family.”
During the meeting Sharabi had told Lammy about the 440 days he was mostly held 50 metres underground, shackled, starved, humiliated and tortured.
He told him about food arriving as aid packages for the Hamas terrorists, who ate four or five times a day.
By contrast, he and his three fellow hostages were fed once a day – a bowl of plain pasta or a pitta, and were permitted to “shower” once every four to six weeks, from a bucket of cold water. He told Mr Lammy there were rats and cockroaches, and that it was hell.
Sharabi, 52, was abducted from his home in Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7, 2023, during the Hamas onslaught. His wife Lianne and daughters Noiya, 16, and Yahel, 13, were murdered. His brother Yossi was also kidnapped and murdered by his captors, who still hold his body.
Fifty hostages remain held by Hamas, including the body of Eli’s brother, Yossi Sharabi, Alon Ohel, who was held with him throughout that time, and Avinatan Or, whose mother is British.
He told the Foreign Secretary that it was as if the hostage families had been kidnapped too, and that they could not heal from the trauma until all of the hostages were home.
“I stayed strong for the kids [three young men who were kidnapped from the Nova Festival] I was held with, and my promise to my daughters to come back,” he said.
His daughters Yahel and Noiya were murdered on 7 October, along with his wife Lianne, all of whom were British citizens. He did not find this out until after he had been released.
The Foreign Secretary was presented with a photograph of the moment of Eli’s release by Hamas, with a handwritten message from Eli saying “bring them home, Eli Sharabi”.
In his statement Lammy warned that if Iran were to develop a nuclear arsenal, other states in the Middle East “would seek to follow”.
Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel
Conservative shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel told the Commons: “The Government has not taken a clear position on the actions that the US and Israel have taken, but we have seen reports of the apparent legal advice from the Attorney General (Lord Hermer) cautioning against UK involvement, and while I appreciate that the Foreign Secretary cannot comment on any legal advice, does the Government have a position on the lawfulness of these strikes?
“And does he welcome the ends as well as the means to achieve this? Does he share my cynicism about Iran’s attempt to cloak itself in the UN Charter – that’s the same UN Charter it has undermined with its brutality for decades?”
The Foreign Secretary replied: “We are in agreement that Iran and the regime in Iran can never have a nuclear weapon, and all of our efforts are designed to ensure that that is the case, and the whole House will understand that this is not just about Iran, the region and global security – it is because we have to remain steadfast in our commitment to not see nuclear proliferation.
“And if Iran got a nuclear weapon, clearly, there would be others in the region that would seek to follow.”
