I survived Palestinian machete attack - Starmer's favour to Hamas made my jaw drop

A survivor of a Palestinian machete attack has accused Sir Keir Starmer of playing a "negative part" in the Israel-Hamas peace deal that "enabled" the release of her attacker. Tal Hartuv, 59, was the victim of a brutal attack in 2010 that left her with 30 broken bones, 18 knife wounds, a collapsed lung, and a sliced diaphragm. While Israelis celebrate the long-awaited release of hostages, Ms Hartuv says she is left with "mixed feelings" after discovering that one of the Palestinian prisoners freed as part of the historic agreement was her attacker - holding the British Government partly responsible.

Ms Hartuv and a friend had been hiking on a nature trail in Jerusalem when they were suddenly "pounced on" and held at knifepoint for thirty minutes. "They found my Israeli ID and they tied our hands behind our back," Ms Hartuv told the Express, speaking of her attackers. "They gagged us, they took off my star of David, they put us to our knees, said 'Allahu akbar' and started butchering." After being "plunged" with a machete, Ms Hartuv made the split-second decision to play dead, even keeping her eyes open to appear more convincing.

This meant she "watched, two metres away, the other man chopping up my friend," who tragically did not survive.

Miraculously, Ms Hartuv managed to stand and walk more than a mile before finding help.

Fifteen years later - and two years after the beginning of what she described as "fighting a very bloody war" - Ms Hartuv read the list of Palestinian prisoners set to be released. As part of the peace deal that saw the remaining 20 living Israeli hostages released by Hamas last week, some 2,000 Palestinians were freed from Israeli jails. On it was the name Iyad Hassan Hussein Fatafta, one of the three men who had attacked her.

"That was a real shock that just compounded the pain. It was so unjust, so rage-inducing, but then, like every other Israeli, I'm watching our hostages come home and I'm sobbing," Ms Hartuv said.

She believes that "a series of events led us to give these terrorists out... and a lot of the responsibility is on Western governments."

"The British Government has played no positive part [in ending the war], but they have played a very negative part which has ultimately enabled this release of terrorists."

Last month, the Prime Minister announced that the UK would recognise a Palestinian state "to revive the hope of peace for the Palestinians and Israelis."

However, Ms Hartuv called the "unilateral" move "detrimental" and "incredibly unhelpful in all kinds of ways."

Reflecting on the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, when a Conservative Government was leading the UK, she said that, at first, "there was incredible support" and "everybody was projecting Israeli flags on the civic buildings all over the world." Yet at the same time, she recalled protests in the streets with people "calling out to globalise the intifada."

"Very early on I said, if that's not curtailed now, England's going to be in trouble. And the Government allowed that," she said.

Ms Hartuv, who holds both Israeli and British citizenship, said she has watched antisemitism in the UK grow for years. "Jewish institutions and synagogues in Britain, for years, have had to have guards, and that's not something that's been applied to any other community of faith."

She has urged Sir Keir to confront what she calls "the elephant in the room of Islamic terrorism". "He's got no spine. He's playing the violin while his country is burning down," she added.

An educator and guide at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial in Israel, Ms Hartuv described the national mood following the peace deal as "very interesting."

The Gaza ceasefire signed last week - which brought home the final 20 surviving Israeli hostages after two years of brutal Hamas captivity - was brokered by US President Donald Trump.

Under the first phase of the plan, Hamas is required to return all 28 deceased hostages. However, the armed group said in a statement that while it remains committed to the agreement, it has only been able to return the bodies it could recover.

"The joy I have is tainted because I'm affected, but the relief that these hostages are back home is incredible," said Ms Hartuv.

She praised the "critical support" from the Trump administration as "a phenomenal game changer" for Israel and the national mood, calling Mr Trump a "strong friend" of Israel and an underrated president who has been "smeared unfairly."

"He made the announcement of what we're all wishing for, which is peace."

Last week, Hamas said it needed more time and specialised equipment to retrieve the remaining bodies from Gaza's ruins.

However, Mr Trump warned that Israeli forces could reignite the conflict if Hamas fails to uphold the terms of the agreement.

Speaking of the Israeli army, Ms Hartuv expressed deep pride in the soldiers and their sacrifices, noting the contrast with the British military, where service is a career choice.

"The kids who are delivering pizza on a Friday night are called up to go down, and they don't even take a razor because they don't need to shave."

"We've got a lot of work to do," she said of rebuilding Israel.

Despite the relief of the Gaza deal, the survivor admitted she still feels uneasy, saying, "these terrorists said they would murder again."

The Express has contacted the Foreign Office for comment.