From the Liveblog of
Sunday, August 10, 2025
Thousands rally in London to demand UK step up pressure on Hamas to release hostages
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Relatives of the hostages seized by Gazan terror groups on October 7, 2023, rallied earlier today with supporters in London, demanding their release and criticizing the UK government’s decision to potentially recognize a Palestinian state next month.
Organizers Stop the Hate UK and several Jewish organizations say the march and rally at Downing Street was in part aimed at urging Prime Minister Keir Starmer to prioritize the release of the remaining hostages.
Out of 251 hostages captured during Hamas-led invasion, 49 are still being held in Gaza, along with the body of an Israeli soldier who was killed in Gaza in 2014. Of those still captive, 20 are believed to still be alive.
The rally comes after Starmer announced on July 30 that the UK will formally recognize the State of Palestine in September, unless Israel takes various “substantive steps,” including agreeing to a ceasefire in Gaza.
The UK leader also detailed several demands for Hamas, including releasing all the hostages, but has not said that that is a precondition for the UK recognition step.
????️National March For The Hostages????️
Sunday 10th August | 3PM | Central London
The entire Jewish community is coming together — with allies from across the country — to march to Downing Street, calling for the immediate release of the hostages.
We will gather from 2pm at in… pic.twitter.com/NMy7EagATP
— Stop The Hate UK (@StopTheHate_UK) August 7, 2025
Noga Guttman, the cousin of 24-year-old hostage Evyatar David, was among the hundreds to attend Sunday’s London event, according to organizers.
Hamas released a video last week in which David, emaciated, was shown digging what he feared would become his own grave, sparking worldwide revulsion.
Organizers say other attendees included the relatives of Avinatan Or, who was kidnapped from the Nova music festival with his girlfriend Noa Argamani.
Argamani was rescued by Israeli forces last June.
The UK’s Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis also took part in the march.
The rally, which featured speeches by various relatives of some of the 251 hostages, was endorsed by almost all denominations of Judaism represented in the UK, including the Modern Orthodox United Synagogue, the Sephardi community, Reform Judaism, Liberal Judaism, and Masorti Judaism.
“The situation for the hostages is absolutely desperate,” a spokesperson for the Campaign Against Antisemitism, one of the groups attending, says.
“People from right across the Jewish community, from every denomination, are uniting with us to say that the UK must focus all of its diplomatic pressure on securing the return of the hostages.”
The Times of Israel Community.