The emotion was intense this Wednesday in the main courtyard of the Invalides. Tribute was paid to the French victims of Hamas attacks on October 7 in Israel. A tribute which is “important in the face of all the vicious forces which are campaigning to deny what happened”, declared Ido Dan, a relative of an alleged French hostage, Ofer Calderon, from the families’ gallery. “It’s important to move forward, to mourn,” he adds.
Two other hostages still remain in Hamas hands for more than 120 days: Ohad Yahalomi and Orión Hernández Radoux. Who are they ?
Orión Hernández-Radoux, 32 years old, father of one child
Orión Hernández-Radoux is 32 years old and the youngest of three French hostages held by Hamas. He was present at the Tribe of Nova, a techno festival in the south of Israel. As a reminder, the event was targeted by the terrorist group, and 260 people were killed.
The family of this father of a 2-year-old child continues to mobilize to raise awareness about the situation of this Franco-Mexican. They tried to call him on his cell phone. According to The Parisian, his mother explains that someone picks up and responds: “Arabic, Arabic! Hamas, Hamas!” Then radio silence.
An Arabic-speaking friend tries to call a second time. “We told him that Orión was alive, that he was not mistreated and that we should not worry,” explains, saddened, his mother to our colleagues at Parisian.
Ofer Kalderon, 53, father of four
Ofer Kalderon is a carpenter and father of four children. On the day of the tragedy, he was in a house in the kibbutz district of Nir Oz, where he also lived, with his son Erez, 12 years old, and his daughter Sahar, 16 years old.
These two children were released at the end of November, explains TF1 Info. As for his wife, Hadas, and his two other children, they escaped being kidnapped by the terrorists. “He is a good father, loving and close to his children. He transmits very good values to them, particularly human values,” his wife Hadas testified to Parisian in October.
Ohad Yahalomi, 49 years old, father of one child
Ohad Yahalomi also resided on Kibbutz Nir Oz and was kidnapped with his 12-year-old son, Eitan. The young boy was released at the end of November. “We have been living a very long day since October 7,” said Ayala Yahalomi Luzon, his sister, for “123 days,” urging “concrete action to bring (the hostages) home.”
During the attack, members of his family fled. For his part, Ohad tried to escape from the terrorists and protect his family, assures his wife Bat Sheva in the columns of Parisian. In all, some 250 people were taken hostage during the unprecedented attack carried out in Israel by Hamas commandos infiltrated from Gaza, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to a count of AFP based on official Israeli data.