The father of two of the Argentines kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on October 7 in the savage attack on Israel confirmed on Saturday that "they are alive" and "fine," after some freed hostages testified to having seen them in different places of captivity in the Gaza Strip.
Argentine-Israeli journalist and educator Itzik Horn, who has lived in Israel for more than 20 years, is the father of Yair and Eitan Horn, two little boys who had been missing since that day and were presumed to have been kidnapped by Hamas, during the attack in which more than 1,200 people were killed and another 240 taken hostage.
"Dear friends, I have some very good news to give you. Among the 13 people who were released yesterday, 12 were from Kibbutz Nir Oz, which is the kibbutz from where the boys were taken and from various sources I began to receive this morning that one of the freed women saw them," Horn said in an audio message to which Telam had access.
"Another one on the way to the tunnels to Gaza with Eitan and another one that in the same car that took her they took them to Yair and Eitan; and another advised that they were locked in the same room in the same place in the tunnels," he continued.
"The boys are indeed fine, they are alive, which is the most important thing, and now we have to arm ourselves with patience, this is going to go on for a very long time but the most important thing is that the boys are alive," said Horn, with whom Télam had an exchange of messages on Whatsapp to confirm the news.
A vigil in Tel Aviv, awaiting the release of more hostages held by Hamas. Photo: EFE
Horn has no information that her children will be released under the Qatar-brokered Israel-Hamas deal, which privileges freeing older women and mothers with children.
Campaign with Ricardo Darín
The story of the two missing Argentines had spread on social networks through a video that featured the participation of actor Ricardo Darín, along with family and friends of the two brothers, who demanded the release of the hostages captured by Hamas.
"Free the innocent people, please stop this," Darin said.
In the text that accompanied the campaign video, it had been specified that the Horn brothers "disappeared without a trace, it is suspected that the Hamas group has them, any information on their whereabouts will be appreciated, we ask for their prompt return home safe and sound."
Their father had said on October 11 that his sons were not in Israeli hospitals, their bodies had not been found and that "no government organization made contact" with them.
On Friday, Hamas militants handed over 24 hostages (13 Israelis, <> Thais and one Filipino) to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to be taken to Israel via Egypt.
Relatives and friends of those kidnapped by Hamas are calling for their early release at a rally in Tel Aviv on Saturday. Photo: REUTERS
At first, information circulated that two of those released, Danielle Aloni and her daughter Emilia, had Argentine nationality, but a source from the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires consulted by Télam said that these people have relatives in Argentina, but are not citizens of the country.
Amid a temporary truce to exchange those captured in the Gaza Strip for Palestinian prisoners and allow humanitarian aid into the coastal enclave, Israel released 39 Palestinians held in its jails.
The release of the hostages in the Gaza Strip came 49 days after their abduction, following the terrorist attack by Palestinian militants on 7 October, in which they killed more than 1,200 people, the vast majority of them civilians, and kidnapped more than 240 people, including twenty Argentines.
That attack sparked an open war between Israel and the Islamist group in the Palestinian enclave, where nearly 15,000 people were killed, including 6,100 children, according to Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip.
For its part, Qatar announced on Saturday that a second batch of 13 Israeli hostages and 7 foreign captives in the Gaza Strip will be released "tonight" in exchange for 39 Palestinian prisoners, on the second day of a truce between Israel and Hamas.
Source: Télam