I fear Hamas terrorists will execute hostage brother in revenge for Lebanon & taunt me with vid after wiping out family
A BRIT dad who lost his family in the October 7 massacre fears Hamas will share sick execution footage of hostages in revenge for Lebanon.
Stephen Brisley’s sister Leanne 48, and her daughters Noiya, 16, and Yahel, 13, were brutally murdered by the terrorists in their own home in Kibbutz Be’eri last year.
The dad, from Bridgend, Wales, also lost family member Yossi Sharabi, 53, who was snatched by gunmen and later executed in a sick Hamas video.
In a cruel twist of fate, Leanne’s husband and Yossi’s brother, Eli, 51, was kidnapped by the terrorists on October 7 and has not been heard from ever since.
He was seen being taken by Hamas on a pick-up truck alongside Ofir Engel, 18 and Amit Shani, 16 – who were later released.
The family desperately hoped they would find out about Eli’s fate when the group of hostages were released – but they still have no answers.
In the aftermath of the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, Stephen now fears the remaining hostages will become collateral damage in retaliation for the Israeli strikes in Lebanon.
He told The Sun: “I fear that Hamas may start killing hostages in some sort of retribution, for the attacks in Lebanon and Beirut.
“Iran have been fairly vocal in supporting Hamas and Hezbollah and the Houthis, and I wonder whether Hamas might want to make an example of some of the hostages for Israeli aggression against Iran.
“‘We’re going to, you know, to kill or torture hostages and release videos of it.
“There could be a very direct retribution cost for the hostages as a result of all the various war fronts that are now going on in the Middle East.
“We know how much Hamas revel in the psychological torture of hostage families.”
His fear stems from a twisted video posted on Telegram – which confirmed Yossi Sharabi was executed.
The sick clip was staged to show hostages participating in a warped “game show.”
Stephen said his family remains desperate for answers.
The last update they had about Eli was in November – a simple confirmation that he was a hostage in Gaza.
He said: “I think we are really reaching the point where all of this escalation has so many risks for the hostages from so many different directions.
“Not least because I fear that the individual Hamas terrorists or the Hamas leadership may go ‘it’s now to make an example of some of the hostages, and it’s time for another video’.”
Stephen is holding out hope his brother-in-law Eli is one of the remaining hostages in Gaza.
I think the torturous thing about it is that there’s absolutely nothing to go on at all
Stephen Brisley
But he admits the chances of him being alive are slim as fighting continues in Gaza.
He said: “We’ve got no witness evidence at all to say that he was alive when he was taken away.
“None of the hostages that have come out, and none of the information we’ve we’ve had has mentioned Eli in any way.
How many hostages are still in Gaza?
ISRAEL believes around 101 hostages are still being held in Hamas' evil clutches in Gaza.
At least 36 of them are feared to be dead.
A total of 97 hostages remain unaccounted for after they were kidnapped by Hamas thugs a year ago.
And a further four people taken hostage in 2014 and 2015 are still being held.
According to Israeli figures, 251 Israelis and foreigners were abducted by Hamas on October 7 last year.
A group of hostages were released in November and another one in June.
“We don’t know whether that’s because he’s being held on his own, we don’t know whether it’s just because maybe he hasn’t survived.
“Maybe he’s being held with other hostages, and he’s one of the live ones that’s being held with Sinwar.
“We just hoping that he was alive when he was taken away, and that that he remains alive. I think the torturous thing about it is that there’s absolutely nothing to go on at all.”
He also fears the remaining hostages will be executed by “spooked terrorists” – as happened in August when six Israelis were found dead in a tunnel inside the Gaza Strip.
The escalation in Lebanon that has brought the Middle East to the brink of all-out war has sparked fears about the hostages’ fate.
Stephen worries they will now be used as “bargaining chips.”
He said: “My concern is that the global attention, the Israeli attention is being moved towards Lebanon and now Iran and there is going to be even less focus on the hostages.
“I’m already not in not persuaded by the Israeli Government’s clarion call that ‘the hostages are our first priority’.
“I don’t think the hostages have been their first priority for a long, long time, and now I think the focus is now even more diluted by fighting war on on so many fronts.”
We will never close the book on this, but I’d like to be able to turn the page to a new chapter, and to be able to to move forward
Stephen Brisley
Stephen has been pushing to get proof of life for their loved ones – and raised his concerns with the Qatari Ambassador earlier this week.
But Hamas is refusing to give any information – which means the number of casualties could be higher.
Israel’s official figures suggest a total of 101 hostages remain in Gaza.
About 251 people were abducted by Hamas on October 7 last year.
A group of hostages were released in November and another one in June.
Emotional footage showed nine-year-old Emily Hand reuniting with her dad while Noa Agramani, who was filmed being dragged onto a motorcycle, was finally able to see her family again after 245 days in captivity.
The dad explained that the uncertainty about Eli’s fate is stopping the family from grieving.
But he smiled as he recalled the last time he video-called his sister Leanne a year ago on October 3 – just days before the Hamas onslaught – on his niece’s Yahel birthday.
He said: “I video called Leanne, and she came into into shot on the video call with her dental nurse mask and gloves on.
“She was at work, and that was when she said to me ‘sorry, Steve, I can’t speak now. I’ve got my hands in someone’s mouth’.”
On the anniversary of their death, Stephen has planned to go to the coast in Porthcawl with his wife and children, where they have a memorial bench for his late sister and nieces.
I don’t think the hostages have been their first priority for a long time – and now I think the focus is now even more diluted by fighting war on on so many fronts
Stephen Brisley
He said: “I don’t want to be thinking about Hamas, and how they died.
“I want to think I want to share stories about the memories about them, and just make it as positive as possible.
“I want to laugh as well, because all three of them had such incredible senses of humour.
“I think that’s that’s the thing that makes it really, really difficult to not be able to turn the page on that chapter.
“We will never close the book on this, but I’d like to be able to turn the page to a new chapter, and to be able to to move forward.
“I think we’re all still stuck on October 7, 2023.”