Four Hamas hostages were released on Saturday June 8, according to the Israeli army. The father of one of them died on the day of his release, according to his aunt, who assures that he “died of grief”.
Father and son will not be reunited. Almog Meir Jan’s father, an Israeli released on Saturday June 8 after being hostage by Hamas for 8 months, died a few hours earlier of a heart attack. According to the ex-hostage’s aunt, his brother “died of grief”, desperate at the idea of never seeing his son again.
“My brother died of grief and was unable to see his son return home,” Dina Jan assured this Sunday to Israeli public radio Kan.
“The evening before returning from Almog, my brother had a heart attack,” she explains. Almog Meir Jan, 22, was released on Saturday during an Israeli army operation in the Gaza Strip.
The aunt rushes to tell the good news
Informed of the release by a phone call from the Israeli army, which could not reach the father, Dina Jan exploded with joy and decided to go directly to her brother Yossi Jan.
“I drove like crazy, I knocked on his door, ‘Yossi, Yossi, Yossi,’ and nothing,” she says. But she finally finds him unconscious in his living room, when she came to tell him the good news.
“We are very happy with Almog’s return, but the brain is unable to understand that this is really the end. We are broken,” she adds, torn between joy and sadness.
Yossi Jan died at the age of 57. His funeral is planned for this Sunday. According to the Hostage Families Forum, his son will be present with the rest of his family.
“He couldn’t stand” this situation
“Yossi, my brother, Almog’s father, remained glued to the television for eight months, clinging to the slightest information,” she still remembers, recalling the long period of anguish.
“He loved Almog so much, he cared so much about him, wanted to know what was happening to him and what he was going through. He couldn’t stand it, every [libération d’otage potentielle] which exploded in his face and broke his heart,” she swears.
“He had lost 20 kg, he couldn’t stand [cette situation]. Everyone was worried about Yossi, but he couldn’t communicate with anyone,” she sighs.
Four hostages released
Almog Meir Jan, 22, was kidnapped by Hamas during the attack on October 7, 2023 in the Gaza Strip. He remained prisoner for 8 months, before regaining his freedom on Saturday.
Along with him, three other hostages were released on Saturday: Noa Argamani, 26, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41. They were kidnapped during the Nova electro music festival.
At least 274 people were killed during the Israeli operation on Saturday, which allowed the release of the four hostages, the Ministry of Health of the Gaza government, led by Hamas, said on Sunday.
Juliette Desmonceaux with AFP
