Strong emotion in Israel after the announcement of the death of four Israeli hostages in Gaza. There are still 120 of them in the hands of Hamas, after the attacks of October 7 which left nearly 1,200 dead, while more than 36,000 Palestinians have been killed to date by the Israeli army in Gaza. Relatives of hostages like Yshay Dan are urging the Israeli government to stop the war to free them.
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RFI: You are the uncle of Hadas Kalderon, ex-wife of Ofer Kalderon who is currently detained in Gaza. He was kidnapped on October 7 with his two children. They were released in November, during a truce, but their father is still there. How do you react to the death of these four hostages?
Yshay Dan: At first I cried and shook. Ofer is still there like other hostages. And these four hostages killed from Kibbutz Nir Oz were very close to me, because I was in this kibbutz for a long time. It’s terrible. I am in contact with Hadas and his children all the time. They are unfortunately like me. They are terrified, they are afraid, afraid that death is getting closer for their father, simply. We can’t think of anything else. We can’t sleep because of it, we can’t wake up to it. But it’s the only thing we feel. We suffer. We must do everything to free the hostages and make a ceasefire, even a lasting one.
We have the impression that the government of Benyamin Netanyahu is rejecting any ceasefire agreement. Are you angry?
Of course I’m angry. We see all the strategists discussing what could happen. But we know very well that our enemy is not going to stop shooting at us. So there will be no problem in starting again war, if necessary. Now we have to stop everything. And what Netanyahu does is to tell lies and above all, he does not want to listen to the families, to those who are demanding an end to the war.
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Not everyone thinks like me. Some people think that the war must continue to recover the hostages. But we see that when we continue the war to reach the hostages, we perhaps kill them ourselves. This is not an easy thing to admit. But it’s possible and it’s terrible.
Stopping the war to free the hostages is your priority. But does the fate of Gazans who are massively killed by the Israeli army also affect you?
I am against any massacre. But for me, it is not a massacre in Gaza, because we warn the citizens, we try not to touch them. […] But I would like to do everything to help this population, without Hamas. When Hamas is no longer there, I believe we will be able to help them and even do more. I would do anything to make peace with them. Because Palestinians are like us, citizens who want to live in peace, that’s all.
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