The Israeli army announced on Friday May 24 that it had recovered the bodies of three hostages held in the Gaza Strip since the Hamas attack on Israeli soil on October 7, 2023. “The bodies of the hostages [Chanan] Yablonka [Israélien]Michel Nisenbaum [Israélo-Brésilien] and Orion Hernandez [Radoux, Franco-Mexicain] were recovered during the night during a joint operation » of the Israeli army and intelligence services in Jabaliya, in the north of the war territory, the army communicated in a message published on Telegram.
According to the Israeli army, these hostages “were murdered during the October 7 massacre” and their bodies were then taken from Kibbutz Mefalsim in the Gaza Strip by Hamas terrorists. According to the same Source, an identification procedure carried out by the Israeli National Forensic Institute and the Israeli police made it possible to inform the families on Friday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his “deep sorrow” after this announcement. The government has “the national and moral obligation to do everything [son] possible to bring back [les] hostages – those who are alive and those who have died”he said in a press release.
Forty-third French victim of October 7, Orion Hernandez Radoux, 32, was attending the Nova music festival in southern Israel when Hamas fighters attacked. He was with his friend Shani Louk, a 22-year-old German-Israeli woman who later appeared in a social media video, lying face down, apparently unconscious and half-naked, in the back of a pickup truck in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli army announced on May 17 that it had repatriated his body.
Emmanuel Macron expressed his “tremendous sadness” after the announcement of the death of Orion Hernandez-Radoux. “I learned with immense sadness of the death of our compatriot Orion Hernandez-Radoux, hostage of Hamas since October 7 (…). France remains more than ever committed to the release of all the hostages”wrote the President of the Republic on https://twitter.com/EmmanuelMacron/status/1793922655600419319
Also read the report | Article reserved for our subscribers In Israel, families of hostages fear their cause will be forgotten
Add to your selections
A sports and music fan, Chanan Yablonka was also kidnapped during the festival. Divorced and father of two children, he decided at the last minute to go with four friends to the festival, from which they tried to escape by car, according to his sister Avivit Yablonka. The bodies of his four friends, including that of former Israeli international footballer Lior Assouline, were found and identified near the vehicle. On Tuesday, Avivit Yablonka confided “fear bad news” about his brother after the announcement of the repatriation of several bodies of other hostages the previous week.
On the morning of October 7, Michel Nisenbaum (59), a resident of Sderot, a town on the edge of the Gaza Strip, went by car to pick up his granddaughter – whose father is a soldier – at the Réïm military base. He hadn’t heard from him since. He was on the phone with family members when the line went dead. Subsequently, an Arabic speaking voice answered a call from one of his daughters. Of Israeli and Brazilian nationality, Michel Nisenbaum was born in Niteroi, near Rio de Janeiro, before emigrating to Israel at the age of 12. He is divorced and the father of two married daughters.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said https://twitter.com/LulaOficial/status/1793958964176011409 of “his immense sadness”. “We will remain committed to efforts to free all hostages, and to achieve a ceasefire and peace for the people of Israel and Palestine”he writes again.
Israel says around 100 hostages remain captive
More than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, were killed by Hamas in the October 7 attack, with around 250 others kidnapped. Nearly half of those hostages have since been released, most in exchanges for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel during a week-long ceasefire in November. Israel says around 100 hostages remain captive in Gaza.
The World Application
The Morning of the World
Every morning, find our selection of 20 articles not to be missed
Download the app
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to eliminate Hamas and return all hostages, but he has made little progress and faces pressure to resign. Israelis are divided into two main camps: those who want the government to put the war on hold and release the hostages, and those who believe the hostages are a price worth paying for the eradication of Hamas. Intermittent negotiations led by Qatar, the United States and Egypt have yielded little result.
After the release of a video showing the kidnapping of female soldiers by Hamas fighters on October 7, the Israeli war cabinet nevertheless ordered Israeli negotiators to “return to the negotiating table to obtain the return of the hostages”according to a senior official.
At least 35,800 Palestinians, mainly civilians, died in the Israeli offensive, according to data from the health ministry in the Gaza Strip, administered by Hamas.
