Peer pays tribute to family’s ‘unbelievable bravery’ a year after his cousin was taken hostage by Hamas

A Labour peer whose cousin was taken hostage in the 7 October attacks has paid tribute to his family’s “unbelievable bravery” as they continue to pray for her safe return.

Speaking on the first anniversary of her kidnap, Lord Michael Levy said his cousin Emily, 27, was among those kidnapped by Hamas gunmen into Gaza last year. She is one of an estimated 97 hostages who have still yet to return home.

He paid tribute to Emily’s mother Mandy as she continues to hope and pray for her daughter’s safe return during “traumatic times”.

“I know Mandy is being unbelievably brave in her belief and her praying that her daughter will come back to her,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live.

Addressing the other hostages, he added: “But it’s not just Mandy and daughter Emily, it’s the other families who are also struggling, suffering, praying that their loved ones will come out and they will have them back with them and those who are no longer alive, at least the decency of a proper burial.”

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However, the peer, who used to work as an envoy and Middle East advisor to Tony Blair when he was prime minister, said the whole region is in a potential “blow-up situation”.

Asked if Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is now a “stumbling block to peace”, rather than somebody who could deliver it, he added: “I don’t think there’s any hope for peace with Netanyahu in power.”

He said if Netanyahu could be offered a pardon and retired from Israeli politics, “we could have a very different scene in Israel, there may be some hope forward for a peaceful solution”.

He added: “Look, I absolutely fervently believe in the security of the State of Israel. There is no question about that. But I believe in a state of Israel that can live in peace with its neighbours.

“You cannot keep a people down any longer, and the terror within the Palestinian people must stop. They must have a future. They must recognise that they cannot want any more the destruction of Israel.”

He said there must be a way forward, adding: “The whole Middle East is potentially in a blow-up situation. And if that happens, how do we how much further can that go for all of us in the world today, there must be a way forward.

“And the answer to your question, I would like to think that Netanyahu could be part of a positive way forward. Regrettably, I just don’t think that is possible at all.”

His comments come as foreign secretary David Lammy said the anniversary of the 7 October attack on Israel was a moment of “deep reflection and pain” as commemorations were held across the UK to mark the outbreak of the latest Middle East conflict.

Visiting a South Tottenham synagogue in his own parliamentary constituency on Monday, the Foreign Secretary paid tribute to the Jewish community across the country.

He echoed Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s description of the Hamas surprise attack last year, in which 1,200 people were killed, as “the worst attack on the Jewish community since the Holocaust”.

Sir Keir last week met the families of British hostages and those killed on 7 October, and he said: “I sat with them as they told me about their loved ones. I will never forget their words.”

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s official spokesman said: “Our priority is in preventing further escalation in the Middle East, and our focus is on working with allies to press for a diplomatic solution.

“All-out war is in nobody’s interest, and we continue to call for calm heads and restraint.”