By Jean-Philippe CHOGNOT
PARIS, Nov 28, 2023 (AFP) – Eight children, one 18-year-old and two mothers all from the same kibbutz community were released late Monday by Hamas, according to relatives, Israeli media and the Hostage Families Forum.
Their release brings the total number of freed hostages to 74 from around 240 people taken to the Gaza Strip after Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attacks on Israel.
Monday’s release was followed by the freeing of 33 Palestinian prisoners, completing the exchanges agreed to under a four-day truce between Israel and Hamas, with 50 Israeli women and children and 150 Palestinians now freed.
Just hours before the truce was set to lapse, mediator Qatar announced the deal would be extended for two more days.
Since fighting paused on Friday, 17 Thai hostages, a Filipino and a Russian-Israeli have also been released, though their freedom was not part of the agreement. Five hostages were also released in October before the truce.
The 11 Israeli hostages released on Monday are:
– Sharon Aloni-Cunio and daughters –
Sharon Aloni-Cunio, 34, and her three-year-old twins Emma and Yuli were released three days after her sister Danielle Aloni and her five-year-old daughter Amelia were freed.
The extended family was sheltering in the safe room of Sharon’s home in the Nir Oz kibbutz when Hamas militants set the house alight and captured them.
Their family had the most members taken hostage: nine in total.
Sharon was captured along with her husband David Cunio, 33, their twins, his brother Ariel, 26, Ariel’s partner Arbel Yahod, 28 and her brother Dolev Yahod, 35.
– Eitan –
French-Israeli 12-year-old Eitan Yahalomi was in his pyjamas, hiding with his family when they were abducted.
The door to their safe room would not close, so Eitan’s father Ohad Yahalomi stood outside it with a gun.
Ohad was wounded in an exchange of fire, and the whole family, including Eitan’s mother Batsheva and his two sisters were taken. His mother and sisters later managed to escape.
“Eitan loves nature and animals. He’s an avid soccer player and hiker,” his grandmother Esther wrote to French President Emmanuel Macron.
– Erez and Sahar –
Erez, 12, and his 16-year-old sister Sahar were abducted along with their father Ofer, 53.
Erez appeared in a video shot in Gaza and posted to social media.
The children’s mother, Hadas Kalderon, had been vocally advocating for their release. Kalderon’s mother, Carmela Dan, 80, and 13-year-old niece Noya were killed in the October 7 attacks.
– Karina Engel-Bart and daughters –
Karina Engel-Bart, 51, and her daughters Mika, 18, and Yuval, 12, were abducted along with their father Ronen Engel, 54.
Karina, a cook and Argentinian, was recovering from a surgery that had not gone well.
“We don’t know if she’s receiving treatment,” her brother Diego told the New York Times on Tuesday.
Mika volunteers to help children while Yuval is an avid horseback rider.
– Yagil and Or –
“Don’t take me with you, I’m too young,” were the last words 12-year-old Yagil’s mother Renana heard over the phone when he and his older brother Or, 16, were abducted from the kibbutz.
The brothers were alone at home at the time of Hamas’s attacks. After the assailants broke into the safe room, they called Renana to tell her the boys had been taken.
Their father Yair Yaakov and his partner Meirav Tal were also kidnapped and are still being held.
Yagil appeared in a video released by Hamas allies Islamic Jihad on November 9.
Israeli animator Yoni Goodman released an 80-second video about the boys’ kidnapping.