Hope, but “no certainty”. Two Franco-Israeli hostages are still detained in the Gaza Strip while a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, providing for the release of hostages kidnapped on October 7, was concluded on Wednesday January 15 and must come into force on Sunday. “For too many months, we have not heard from them. (…) We sincerely hope that they can return to us alive and in good health”declared the minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot on RTL, Thursday.
French diplomacy is cautious about the fate of Ofer Kalderon and Ohad Yahalomi, because it is currently impossible to know whether these fathers are alive, nor whether they will be affected by the wave of release of 33 hostages of the 94 who are still being held in the Gaza Strip, as part of an exchange with Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. “This is what we have tirelessly asked for” since October 7, 2023, assured Jean-Noël Barrot.
During the Hamas attack that day, no less than 48 French nationals lost their lives, recalled the head of French diplomacy. Eight more “were taken hostage, two of them unfortunately died, four returned to us, including the children of Ofer and Ohad, and it is now these two hostages whose return we are awaiting”he recalled. Here’s what we know about them.
Ofer Kalderon, who was detained with two of his children, released at the end of 2023
“We jumped out of the window, we hid in a bush.” This is the last text message that this father of four sent to his ex-wife, Hadas Kalderon, on October 7, 2023. He was kidnapped in Kibbutz Nir Oz, near the Gaza Strip, with two of his children , his son Erez and daughter Sahar, aged 12 and 16, while Hadas Kalderon’s mother, Carmela Dan, 80, and niece Noya Dan, 12 years old, were killed. Erez and Sahar Kalderon, taken to the Gaza Strip, were released 51 days later, on November 27, 2023, under a temporary ceasefire agreement.
Their father is still in the hands of Hamas or its allies, if he is still alive. “Don’t ask me if Ofer is alive, I don’t know.”launched Hadas Kalderon a year after the attack, on October 7, to TF1 journalists. His daughter Sahar “feels guilty for leaving him”she added. “His father told him: ‘Please don’t forget me, fight for me, I don’t want to die here.’ So how can she have a normal life?” The last time his children saw him before their release, Ofer Kalderon was injured in the leg, reported Olivier Jaoui, Hadas Kalderon’s cousin, on franceinfo.
Before being kidnapped, Ofer Kalderon worked as a carpenter. “He uses wood to make tables and chairs,” detailed Hadas Kalderon at Parisian. And to add: “He is a good father, loving and close to his children. He passes on very good values to them, particularly human values. His passion is mountain biking in the mountains.”
-Thursday, Hadas Kalderon confided on RTL to be “the happiest woman in the world” since the announcement of the truce agreement the day before. According to the first elements made public, hostages should be released little by little every week, starting on Sunday. “That means it’s going to take some time, but we hope and pray that everything goes as planned.”she continued. In Israel, Ifat Kalderon, Ofer Kalderon’s cousin, shared “mixed feelings, on the one hand joy, mixed with horrible stress”.
Ohad Yahalomi, of whom no proof of life has emerged since October 7
This Franco-Israeli was also kidnapped in Kibbutz Nir Oz, at the same time as his son Eitan Yahalomi, 12 years old. The latter was released on the same day as Ofer Kalderon’s two children, a little less than two months after the attack.
On October 7, 2023, the father took refuge with his wife and three children in a secure room in their house to try to escape the terrorists. “After two hours of shouting in Arabic and gunshots, my husband decided to leave the room to close the door. The terrorists entered the house and shot my husband”reported his wife, Bat Sheva Yahalomi, on France 2.
Ohad Yahalomi was shot in the leg during the attack, according to Times of Israël. The newspaper reports that his wife was taken by the terrorists on a scooter, with her baby and her 10-year-old son, while young Eitan, 12, was taken with two other attackers. The mother miraculously managed to escape with the two youngest children. “They ran, in pajamas and flip-flops, for more than three hours”managing to return to the kibbutz, according to the Israeli newspaper’s account, based on the words of Bat Sheva Yahalomi. “We thought Ohad would be there, but he wasn’t.”she said.
Since then, his relatives have not received a single proof of life in fifteen months of captivity. During a press conference in early 2024, Ohad Yahalomi’s sister said “have hope” for his brother. “These are the kind of injuries you survive,” she added on the Israeli television channel Kan. This educator transmitted “good values” to young people, one of her cousins confided to Parisian.
Related News :