Ofer Kalderon and Ohad Yahalomi, the last two Franco-Israeli hostages held in Gaza, should be released by Hamas shortly, but their state of health, still unknown, is causing concern.
It’s official, Ofer Kalderon and Ohad Yahalomi are on the list of the first hostages to be released by Hamas. President Emmanuel Macron, traveling to Lebanon on Friday January 17, announced it via the X network. The two Franco-Israeli hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023 should quickly reunite with their families. But mystery still reigns over their state of health.
“We very much hope that they can return to us alive and in good health, but we have no certainty, we have no news,” Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said on Thursday. RTL. According to an Israeli official interviewed by the Washington Post“the captives released in the first stage would be children, women, the wounded and people aged 50 and over.” Aged 54 and 50 respectively, Ofer Kalderon and Ohad Yahalomi are just above the minimum required for Hamas’ release of men, but it is unclear whether both men are ill or injured.
There is no evidence to even say with certainty whether these two hostages are still alive. The Israeli army estimates that 34 of those held by Hamas have died since October 7, 2023. But the truce agreement provides for new negotiations for a second sentence during which the other hostages, mainly men, and the remains of the deceased persons should be returned. Which suggests that Ofer Kalderon and Ohad Yahalomi are alive and well after 15 months of detention.
Although their release was announced, the date of their return was not specified. The first hostages should be returned on Sunday January 19, but all releases must be spread gradually over 42 days. Ofer Kalderon and Ohad Yahalomi may not be released for another two or four weeks.
Hostages in a state of malnutrition and suffering from psychological problems
“I’m very worried, but I have hope and I want to believe that he is strong enough and that he will come back. But as long as I don’t have him in front of me, I won’t make it to believe it”, testified at the microphone of RTL Hadas Kalderon, Ofer’s ex-wife, on Thursday. As for Ohad Yahalomi, captured in his house on Kibbutz Nir Oz, he was shot in the leg. At the start of 2024, his sister said she “had hope” for her brother: “These are the kind of wounds we survive,” she hoped on the microphone of the Israeli television channel Kan.
In November 2023, during the first wave of hostage releases, doctors discovered people suffering from malnutrition and weight loss, lice and skin infections, as well as psychological problems, recalls Opinion. And this after fifty days of war. What will happen after 15 months? The newspaper quoted Israeli and Arab officials as saying that the remaining hostages were in poor health. Ofer Kalderon and Ohad Yahalomi are included in the list of men over fifty, not the sick or injured, according to i24newswhich gives some hope. You should still expect to find them weakened and traumatized.
Already four French hostages had been released during the previous ceasefire, in November 2023, “including the children of Ofer and Ohad”, recalled Jean-Noël Barrot on Thursday. Two others died. Israel estimates that of the 94 hostages remaining in Gaza, more than thirty are dead.