Five days after the Palestinian Hamas’ violent attack on Israel, the macabre count of the French dead and missing continues. Addressing the Senate on Wednesday, October 11, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne spoke of the “ten deceased nationals and the eighteen of whom we have no news,” including “several children (…) who were probably kidnapped by the terrorist organization.” On Wednesday evening, Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna revised the number upwards, citing 11 deaths on Franceinfo.
Also read our Live: Live, Israel-Hamas war: The only power plant in the bombed Gaza Strip is now shut down
These numbers remain provisional. More than 80,000 French or Franco-Israelis are registered with French consular services in Israel. “Unfortunately,” Ms. Colonna recalled on Tuesday, “the number of victims is increasing as the Israeli authorities carry out checks and identifications.” »
The French authorities provide only scant information about the victims and the circumstances of their deaths. Some names are now certainly familiar, such as that of Avidan T., a 26-year-old Franco-Israeli who has lived in Israel with his parents since he was a child. The consistory of Bordeaux, where the family came from, confirmed the death of this young man. He was one of 2,000 to 3,500 people who attended the Universo Paralello electronic music festival held near Kibbutz Reim in the Negev Desert, just three kilometers from the Gaza border.
French-Israeli soldiers were also among the victims
This rave party, targeted by dozens of Hamas terrorists, was the site of the worst massacre of the offensive, with at least 260 victims who Hamas rescuers said were shot on the spot or while fleeing. Zaka Association. Meyer Habib, deputy (Les Républicains) of the 8th constituency of French people living abroad, announced on Tuesday the death of the young man, which was subsequently confirmed by the French authorities.
Also read: Article reserved for our subscribers Israel-Hamas war: How the rave party near Gaza became a horror
At least two other French people were among the victims of the festival on Saturday. Among them was Naomi N., 23 years old. According to indirect testimonies collected by RTL, this young woman from Créteil went to Israel to join her fiancé, according to one of her friends who was interviewed on the radio. She was separated from her partner, who was himself injured, in the panic before the estate was evacuated, and was reportedly killed when she tried to join him. Agence France-Presse also mentions a young man of 26, Dan B., originally from Marseille but living in Israel since childhood, whose body was identified on Tuesday evening among the victims, according to the president of the Israelite Consistory of Marseille, Michel Cohen-Tenoudji.
You still have 55.57% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.