2023-11-28 03:30:56
French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed on Monday the release of three Franco-Israeli minors held by Hamas, but the “joy is incomplete”, with many hostages still being held by the Palestinian Islamist movement, commented the lawyers of two children.
“Three of our young compatriots are part of the group of hostages released today. Extremely happy with this announcement,” the French president wrote on X, adding that France remained “fully” mobilized to obtain the release of all the hostages.
These releases bring the number of hostages released to 74, or a third of the approximately 240 sequestered in Gaza since their kidnapping on October 7. Among them, 50 women and children have been released since Friday, in exchange for the release of 150 Palestinian prisoners, as part of the truce agreement between Israel and Hamas, which was extended by two days on Monday.
Here is what we know about the eleven Israeli hostages released Monday by Hamas, according to accounts from their relatives to AFP, information from the Israeli press and the Hostage Families Forum.
Sharon Aloni Cunio (34 years old) and her three-year-old twins
Sharon Aloni Cunio, 34, and her three-year-old twin daughters, Emma and Yuly, were released three days after Danielle Aloni, Sharon’s sister, and her daughter Amelia (five), were released on Friday. They were kidnapped along with their respective children while hiding in the safe room of Sharon’s home in Nir Oz. To dislodge them, armed Hamas men set fire to the house.
Their family is the one with the most hostages (nine). Danielle and her daughter were captured with Sharon (34 years old), her husband David Cunio (33 years old), their three-year-old twin daughters, David’s brother, Ariel (26 years old), his partner, Arbel Yehoud ( 28 years old), and his sister, Dolev Yehoud (35 years old).
Erez and Sahar, twelve and sixteen years old
Erez and his sister Sahar, two teenagers aged twelve and sixteen respectively, were kidnapped along with their father Ofer (53) in Nir Oz. Erez appeared in a video filmed in Gaza and posted on social media.
The two children are French through their mother Hadas Kalderon who made the rounds in the media to ask for their release. Hadas’ mother, Carmela Dan (80), and niece, Noya (thirteen), were killed in the attack.
French actress and director Agnès Jaoui announced in the Parisian that she was related to the Kalderon family.
Eitan, twelve ans
The Franco-Israeli teenager Eitan (twelve years old) was kidnapped, as was his father Ohad Yahalomi (49 years old, not released), from their home in Nir Oz. His mother Batsheva said the whole family tried to take refuge in the mamad, the secure room. But the door did not close, so Ohad had stationed himself in front with a pistol. The father was injured in an exchange of fire and the attackers took away Batsheva and her three children. Subsequently, Eitan’s mother and two sisters managed to escape.
Removed in his pajamas, on a motorbike, “Eitan is a lover of nature and animals, he is passionate about football and hiking,” wrote his grandmother Esther in a letter to French President Emmanuel Macron.
Karina Engel-Bart (51 years old) and her two teenage daughters
Karina Engel-Bart (51 years old) and her two daughters, Mika (18 years old) and Yuval (11 years old), were kidnapped from their home in Nir Oz, along with their husband and father, Ronen Engel (54 years old), while the family was sheltering in their secure room.
Karina, the mother, was recovering from the removal of both her breasts and breast reconstruction surgery that went wrong. “We don’t know if she’s receiving treatment,” her brother Diego worried in the New York Times on Tuesday.
A fine cook, Karina, is of Argentinian nationality. Her daughter Mika volunteers with children in difficulty. Yuval, the youngest, practices horse riding.
Yagil and Or, twelve and sixteen years old
“Don’t take me, I’m too young!” » These words from Yagil were the last that Renana, his mother, heard on the phone when he was kidnapped along with his older brother Or (sixteen years old), from Kibbutz Nir Oz.
The two brothers were sleeping alone in their home at the time of the attack. They defended the door to the secure room and, terrified, called their mother in whispers. The attackers finally managed to enter the room and subsequently telephoned Renana to tell her that her sons were in their custody.
Their father Yair Yaakov and his partner Meirav Tal were also kidnapped and remain captive. Yagil appeared on November 9 in a video released by Islamic Jihad, an allied organization of Hamas in Gaza. Yoni Goodman, who participated in the multi-award winning animated film “Waltz with Bachir” released in 2008, recounted the kidnapping of the two brothers in an 80-second animated video.
Erez and Sahar Kalderon, 12 and 16, as well as Eitan Yahalomi, 12, arrived in Israel as part of the truce agreement with the Palestinian Islamist movement. They were taken hostage on October 7 during the Hamas attack in southern Israel.
Lawyers for the Kalderon family told AFP of their “tremendous joy” after learning that the three children are “now free and in Israeli territory”.
“However, it is a joy that is incomplete,” because Ofer (53 years old), the father of Erez and Sahar, “at this time remains in the hands of Hamas and there are still hostages,” said Me. Patrick Klugman.
The two children are French through their mother Hadas Kalderon, who made the rounds in the media to ask for their release. Hadas’ mother, Carmela Dan (80), and niece Noya (13) were killed in the attack.
French actress and director Agnès Jaoui announced in Le Parisien that she was related to the Kalderon family.
The families of the three young hostages released Monday made their aliyah, or “law of return” offering Israeli nationality to Jews and their loved ones, but maintain “multiple and varied” links with France, said lawyer Sacha Ghozlan , also interviewed by AFP.
“We remain fully mobilized to obtain the release of Elya Toledano and Mia Shem”, two other Franco-Israelis whose fate remains suspended in the “bargaining” of Hamas which makes the wait “unbearable” for their loved ones, he said. he adds.
– Live your life –
The eleven hostages released Monday evening are all dual nationals: in addition to the three young Franco-Israeli nationals, six have Argentine nationality and two others have German nationality, said Qatar, mediator in the conflict.
These releases, announced by the Israeli army after the announcement by the Palestinian Islamist movement and Qatar of a 48-hour extension of the truce, bring to 50 the number of Israeli hostages released since Friday.
In total, 150 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons have been released in exchange since Friday, including 33 during the night from Monday to Tuesday according to the Israeli Prison Authority, according to a ratio of one hostage for three prisoners.
In addition, 19 hostages outside the truce agreement were released by Hamas, the vast majority of them Thais who worked in Israel.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna recalled that “France’s number one priority” was “to free all our compatriots” still in the hands of the Palestinian movement.
“We too, France, find three of our children, Eitan, Erez and Sahar, who were cowardly taken hostage and who are finally free,” rejoiced the head of French diplomacy on BFMTV, adding that France “will not relax its efforts” until “all the hostages”, in particular “five missing French people” find their freedom.
The deputy (related to Les Républicains) for the 8th constituency of French people living abroad Meyer Habib welcomed “a little light in this ocean of darkness”.
The grandmother of young Eitan – kidnapped, like his father Ohad Yahalomi (49 years old, not released), in their house in Nir Oz – confided her “very great joy” on Monday after learning that her grandson was finally on the “list” of hostages expected to be released.
“I know that he is alive and that he will be able to live his life as a child that was stolen from him,” responded Jocelyne Goldapper on BFMTV.
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