Four children are among 17 French people missing after the Hamas attack in Israel on Saturday.
Four children are among the 17 French nationals missing after the Hamas offensive against Israel. The President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, shared this information this Thursday during a meeting with political party leaders at the Élysée.
• Erez and Sahar Kalderon, 12 and 16 years old
The Kalderon family, including Erez, 12, and Sahar, 16, lived in Kibbutz Nir Oz, three kilometers from the Gaza Strip, when the attack began. Gaya, one of the family’s 21-year-old daughters who lives in Tel Aviv, was informed and immediately exchanged messages with her relatives.
“I’m so scared, I want to cry,” his sister Sahar wrote to him.
A little later she informed her that the terrorists were in the house and hiding outside. She posted a final message in the family WhatsApp group: “Mom, I love you.”
Gaya’s mother and 18-year-old brother survived. But Gaya no longer has news of her little brother Erez, her little sister Sahar, nor her father, her grandmother and her cousin. In a video spread by Hamas propaganda on social networks, she identified her little brother as a hostage. We see him there for a few seconds.
• Noya Dan, 12 years old
Galit, a French-Israeli mother who is also d’Erez and Sahar’s aunt, said her daughter Noya and her mother were kidnapped by Hamas at Kibbutz Nir Oz. She herself had returned home to the kibbutz of Kissoufim, but her twelve-year-old daughter had insisted on sleeping at her grandmother’s house.
According to her account, her daughter sent her a voice message around midday: “I hear people, Mom…” This was the last message she received. It was her sister who called her and told her that her mother and daughter had been kidnapped by Hamas.
• Eitan, 12 years old
Also in Kibbutz Nir Oz, 12-year-old Eitan was kidnapped on a motorcycle. He had gone into hiding with his family after his father was injured by Kalashnikov fire, but the terrorists found them.
They kidnapped the entire family on two motorcycles. They drove about 200 to 300 meters before being stopped by two tanks. One of the motorcycles stopped. Not the second one Eitan was there for. His family has had no news since then.
Vincent Vantighem with Glenn Gillet