British PM ‘dismayed’ at freed hostage Eli Sharabi’s condition, says he’s met his UK relatives

9 February 2025, 1:14 am 20 Edit

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer leaves 10 Downing Street in central London on February 5, 2025, to take part in the weekly session of Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs). (Adrian Dennis / AFP)

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says he’s relieved at today’s release from Hamas captivity of Eli Sharabi, but “dismayed to see his frail condition and the circumstances of his release.”

Sharabi was freed Saturday morning after 491 days in captivity in Gaza, looking visibly emaciated and forced to answer questions on a Hamas stage while terror operatives with guns surrounded him.

Sharabi’s British-Israeli wife Lianne and teenage daughters Noiya and Yahel were murdered in Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught. He didn’t know they were dead until after his release. Eli’s brother Yossi was also taken hostage and later killed.

Starmer says he has met Sharabi’s relatives, presumably his wife’s Wales-based parents and siblings, adding: “I appreciate the deep pain they have endured and my thoughts are with them.”

The UK leader says all hostages must go free after being “ripped away from their lives in the most brutal circumstances and held in appalling conditions.”

He urges the ongoing deal seen through all its phases alongside the “continued increase of aid into Gaza.”