Hostages Sunak is urged to broker deal for release
The Guardian|January 23, 2024
The families of four Israeli hostages yesterday urged Rishi Sunak to apply pressure on Qatar to help free their loved ones.
Emine Sinmaz
Hostages Sunak is urged to broker deal for release

The father of 18-year-old Liri Albag, the older brother of the 26-year-old twins Ziv and Gali Berman, and the girlfriend of Eliya Cohen, 26, pleaded with the prime minister to do everything in his power to secure their release after 108 days in captivity.

During a weeklong truce in November, Hamas released dozens of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel in a deal that was brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the US.

Albag, one of the youngest remaining hostages, appeared in a Hamas propaganda video after she was abducted from an army base on 7 October. Her father, Eli Albag, said he looked into Sunak's eyes at a lunch organised by the Conservative Friends of Israel parliamentary group as he pleaded for the government's help in brokering a new deal.

"I will try to move every stone in the world to bring my daughter and all of the hostages back. Our family is destroyed," he said.

This story is from the January 23, 2024 edition of The Guardian.

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This story is from the January 23, 2024 edition of The Guardian.

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