08 October 2023 , 08:04
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A British citizen is trapped in Gaza amid a spate of kidnappings by Hamas militants, the Israeli ambassador to the UK has said.
Tzipi Hotovely told Sky News that there was a British national there "at the moment", but this has not been confirmed by the UK Government. She said: "I know there is one British citizen who is in Gaza at the moment. The Israeli government is doing everything we can to help those who are held hostage and every citizen who is taken is returned. But it's a long and complicated war and this is where we need your support in order to make sure that every single civilian that is being taken will be brought back to Israel, where they belong.”
London-born Jewish man Jake Marlowe has been missing since Saturday after providing security at a party in the desert near Gaza, according to the Israeli embassy. An embassy spokesperson said: "He is missing, we don't know for sure that he is taken hostage or dead or in a hospital."
His mum Lisa told Jewish News: “He was doing security at this rave yesterday and called me at 4.30am to say all these rockets were flying over. Then, at about 5.30am, he texted to say, ‘signal very bad, everything OK, will keep you updated I promise you,’ and that he loves me”.
A Foreign Office spokeswoman said they would not comment on individual cases but added: "However, we can confirm we are in contact with - and assisting - the families of several individuals in Israel and the OPTs (Occupied Palestinian Territories). The safety of all British nationals continues to be our utmost priority and we urge everyone to continue to follow our travel advice which is updated regularly."
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Ms Hotovely said Israelis had woken up to a "nightmare" when Hamas militants mounted a massive surprise attack, killing soldiers and civilians in Israel's southern communities. She said 300 Israelis were "brutally, barbarically murdered in cold blood" by people who planned in the most "calculated way" to invade.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared Israel was “at war” and ordered a mass mobilization of army reserves. Israel responded with air strikes on hundreds of targets in Gaza overnight that have levelled buildings.
Transport Secretary Mark Harper said the UK Government was working closely with Israel to help any British citizens. He said: "We'll have all been horrified by the barbaric scenes we saw with Hamas's indiscriminate attack yesterday and we are unequivocally in support of the state of Israel as they deal with that threat."
Mr Harper added: "We're obviously working very closely and have been in contact with the Israeli government about any British citizens that are in Israel, and will obviously continue to work with them and obviously get information and work with their families back here in Britain." He told the BBC that the UK would support Israel in whatever it decides is necessary to defend itself against Hamas attacks.
Labour leader Keir Starmer described it as "an appalling act of terrorism" which "needs to be called out across the world". He told the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: "This is an appalling attack on Israel, a terrorist attack, for which there is no justification. The perpetrators of this have deliberately pushed back the prospect of peace agreements."
He said he spoke to the leader of the Israeli Labour party, Merav Michaeli, last night, but they were interrupted by air raid sirens. "It's an appalling act of terrorism, it needs to be called out across the world," he said.
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