The war in Gaza: who are the eight Argentinians still kidnapped by Hamas

After the release of Fernando Marman and Luis Hartenstein by the Israeli army, There are still eight Argentines in the hands of Hamas, who were kidnapped on October 7, when the terrorist organization attacked Israel, killing more than 1,200 people and kidnapping 240 others, near the Gaza Strip.

The best known are the baby ones Kfir Bibashis brother Ariel Bibas and his mother Shiri Silberman Bibasthat Hamas filmed when they were kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz.

The Argentines Jair and Eitan Horn They were kidnapped from the same kibbutz, near the Gaza Strip, where the brothers were also taken hostage. Ariel and David Cunio.

From another kibbutz near Nir Oz, in Nir Yitzhak, Argentines were kidnapped Fernando Marman and Luis Hartensteinwho were released by the Israeli army on Monday morning.

From that same kibbutz they kidnapped Lior Rudaeffresponsible for the security of Nir Yitzhak, where he had his home, who is the eighth Argentine citizen still in the hands of Hamas.

The Bibas Silbermans

The plastic artist José Luis Silberman was an Argentinean who went to live on Kibbutz Nir Oz in 1976., when the military dictatorship began and his father Vladimir emigrated to Israel with the whole family. There José Luis met a young Peruvian woman, Marguit Schneider, with whom they had two daughters: Dana and Shiri Silberman.

Shiri devoted herself to teaching and married Yarden Bibas, but they always maintained contact with their family in Argentina. And they had two children: Ariel Bibas, now four years old, and Kfir Bibas, who was nine months old when he was kidnapped by Hamas.

When Hamas attacked Nir Oz, The house of the Argentine José Luis Silberman and his Peruvian wife Marguit Schneider burned down, who died there and their remains were identified several days later. In that attack the terrorists kidnapped the other four members of the Silberman Bibas family, who lived in another house.

The armed wing of Hamas announced, without providing evidence, that little Kfir, his brother Ariel and his mother Shiri died in captivity in an Israeli army explosion in Gaza. And he offered to exchange their bodies for dozens of Palestinians detained for terrorist acts and for the cessation of fighting in Gaza. But those requests were rejected by Hamas He could not provide evidence on the situation of the Silberman Bibas family.

“We continue to have hope because on another occasion they left other hostages for dead and then they were released alive,” the Argentine aunt, Sandra Miasnik, told Diana Baccaro, director of Kfir Bibas. Clarion.

The brothers Horn and Cunio

Itzik Horn is the father of the Argentine brothers Iair and Eitan Hornkidnapped in Kibbutz Nir-Oz, Israel, by the terrorist group Hamas on October 7.

Itzik emigrated to Israel in October 2000, as thousands of Argentines did during the economic crisis that the country went through in those years; even if he assures that he did it for “ideological and religious” reasons.

But she never imagined that two of her three children – the third is Amos, who lives north of Tel Aviv – would be kidnapped from the gated community where Eitan had gone to visit his brother over the long weekend from “Simchat Torah, the end of the holiday of Sukkot”.

And he added that “Iair was very loved in the kibbutz because he tended the bar, took care of the sound at all the parties, and was very creative. He had composed a festive song with photos of each of the kibbutz members for a Purim party, where videos and costumes are always made, it was one of the most joyful parties… And now that video is like a tribute to Jair and the members of the kibbutz.”

Itzik awaits news Iair and Eitan, their sons, aged 45 and 34, who studied at the Scholem Aleichem school in Villa Crespo.. But they were abducted by Hamas on October 7 in Kibbutz Nir Oz, where nearly a third of all abductees come from.

During the attack on Nir Oz, terrorists also kidnapped David Cunio (33) and his brother Ariel (26), children of the Argentine José Luis Cunio, who are still held hostage. David’s wife and two young daughters have already been freed, but there is no news of the Cunio brothers.

Furthermore, the Argentine was killed in Kibbutz Nir Oz Abi Korinamong others, whose father was director of the Scholem Aleichem school and director of Culture of the AMIA.

The kidnapping of Nir Yitzhak

Kibbutzim Nir Oz and Nir Yitzhak are ten kilometers apart, very close to the Gaza Strip.

Luis Hartenstein (70 years old) was at the home of his partner Clara Marman when he was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists in Nir Yitzhak. I had tickets to visit friends and family in Argentina by the end of last October.

In the same house they also kidnapped Fernando Marman (60 years old), who He had gone to spend the weekend at his sister Clara’s house.who was held hostage and was released by Hamas.

The Argentinians Luis Hartenstein and Fernando Marman were released this Monday at dawn by the Israeli army.

Another Argentine, Lior Rudaeff (61), went to Israel as a child, together with his parents, where he married and raised a large family. He was one of Nir Yitzhak’s security guards, who went to defend the kibbutz when it was attacked by Hamas. The Argentine Oren Goldin was murdered there Rudaeff is the eighth hostage Argentina which is still in the hands of Hamas.