UK

British family of Hamas hostage urge Israel to let them tell him tragic news

Hostage Eli Sharabi, 52, is likely unaware his British wife Lianne and their daughters were killed, a family member has said.

Stephen Brisley, whose sister Lianne Sharabi and nephews Noiya and Yahel Sharabi, were murdered by Hamas on October 7, and the brother-in-law of Eli Sharabi who is still a hostage, speaking during a press conference in September
Stephen Brisley, whose sister Lianne Sharabi and nephews Noiya and Yahel Sharabi, were murdered by Hamas on October 7, and the brother-in-law of Eli Sharabi who is still a hostage, speaking during a press conference in September (Jonathan Brady/PA)
By Rachel Vickers-Price, PA

The British family of Eli Sharabi, one of the hostages still held by Hamas, are appealing to authorities in Israel to be the ones to tell him his wife and daughters have died.

Bristol-born Lianne, 48, and their two daughters Noiya, 16, and Yahel, 13, were killed in Israel’s October 7 attacks.

Mr Sharabi, 52, is on a list to be freed soon.

People at a gathering at the Golders Green War Memorial, London, to send their love and to hope for the safe return of hostages following the ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict
People at a gathering at the Golders Green War Memorial, London, to send their love and to hope for the safe return of hostages following the ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict (Ben Whitley/PA)

He is also likely unaware his British wife Lianne and their girls died, Lianne’s brother Stephen Brisley told the Daily Mirror, and he does not want Mr Sharabi to hear the news from an Israeli official or a soldier.

Mr Brisley, of Bridgend, South Wales, said: “I think the prospect of getting back to Lianne and the girls is what’s kept him going.

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“When he finds out they’re not alive, that could finish and crush him.

“I want to reassure him we will always be here, and we will do whatever he needs to help him recover. That’s [if] Eli is alive.”