Brother of British woman killed by terrorists ‘unable to grieve’

THE brother of a British woman murdered by Hamas in the Oct 7 attack said he has been unable to grieve because her husband is still being held hostage by the terrorist group.

Steve Brisley, whose brother-in-law Eli Sharabi is being held by terrorists in Gaza, said he feared time is running out for hostages.

Mr Brisley, 47, from Bridgend, in south Wales, said neither he nor his family had been able to grieve for his sister, Lianne Sharabi, and her two daughters, Noiya, 16, and Yahel, 13, who were murdered in their home on Kibbutz Be’eri during the massacre.

He said: “The death of my sister has broken my parents. We had to watch my sister’s funeral on a WhatsApp video.

“We can’t grieve properly because Eli is still a hostage – we want to see him freed and then afterwards perhaps we will be able to properly grieve for my sister and my nieces.”

Mr Brisley now fears his brother-inlaw will die in the cross-fire of the fighting in Gaza or be executed by Hamas.

Mr Brisley, who also has two daughters, said: “We want to get Eli back home. It’s clear that this can only be done through diplomacy and negotiation. If he does get out of this alive we may well have to break the news to him that his entire family – and they were his world – are dead.”

Eli’s brother Yossi was also taken hostage but he has since died while being held captive. Hamas claims his death was caused by an Israeli air strike but Mr Brisley believes that he may have been executed.

He said: “We knew from day one that Eli’s brother Yossi had been taken hostage because his wife and kids watched him being taken away in the back of a truck.”

Mr Brisley said that Lianne had lived on Kibbutz Be’eri for 28 years after joining as a volunteer when she was just 20.

He first learnt about the Oct 7 attacks while listening to the BBC and heard a story about a large number of missiles being fired into Israel from Gaza. As the terrorists began working their way through the kibbutz, Lianne and the girls began sending messages on social media pleading for help. Mr Brisley continued: “The older of my two nieces, Noiya, had put an Instagram post up asking people to contact the security forces and tell them that Be’eri was under attack. After that, things went quiet and we never heard anything more.”

On Nov 3, Lianne’s husband’s family were visited by a member of the Israel Defence Forces, who told them that Eli was alive but a hostage in Gaza.

He added: “All we know is that up until Nov 3, Eli was alive. None of the released hostages have given any indication that they have seen or spoken to him.”

The events of Oct 7 have left Mr Brisley’s entire family traumatised and unable to grieve for Lianne’s loss.

“Until Eli’s situation is resolved, one way or the other,” he said, “I don’t feel I can entirely switch on to my grief. I had assumed that all this would be over by now, especially after the hostage releases in November.

“So I buried my grief down and concentrated on what I could do to get Eli and Yossi back.”