Family says sign of life received for hostage Segev Kalfon
A recently returned captive reportedly spent months with 27-year-old, said to be in ‘relatively stable state’; Kalfon’s is 11th hostage family to announce sign of life since weekend
The family of hostage Segev Kalfon said Thursday that it had received a fresh sign of life from him, the latest information to be known about a young male captive since Hamas released three Israelis as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal on Saturday, Hebrew media reported.
According to the Kan public broadcaster, Kalfon’s family received the information from one of the hostages who returned over the weekend and had spent “long months” with Kalfon in captivity.
“He didn’t elaborate on [Kalfon’s] condition, but said he was okay,” the family was quoted as saying.
The Maariv newspaper said they described Kalfon as being in “relatively stable condition.”
Kalfon, 27, from Dimona, was abducted from the Reim-area Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.
Kalfon is slated for release only in the next, second of the hostage deal. The second phase, which Israel has not committed to, would see Hamas release remaining living hostages — who, when the first phase is completed, would comprise men aged less than 50 who are not considered “humanitarian cases” for health reasons.
Kalfon’s is the latest hostage family to announce having received information about their loved one since the return of Ohad Ben Ami, Eli Sharabi and Or Levy on Saturday.
The three returning hostages’ emaciated state highlighted the male captives’ harsh conditions. Ben Ami, Sharabi and Levy were said to have been bound, gagged, beaten, starved and beaten with a searing hot object.
In the days since their release, 12 hostage families have reportedly received signs of life for their loved ones.
Kalfon’s is the eleventh family to go public with the sign of life it received, following the families of hostages Yosef-Haim Ohana, Alon Ohel, Elkana Bohbot, Matan Angrest, Nimrod Cohen, Eitan Mor, Omri Miran, Eliya Cohen and twins Gali and Ziv Berman.
Of those hostages, 27-year-old Eliya Cohen is the only one slated for release in the current phase.
Cohen was reportedly being held in an underground tunnel, chained, starved and suffering from a bullet wound to his leg sustained during the Hamas onslaught. Several other young male hostages were said to be suffering similar conditions.
Hamas has so far released 16 Israeli and five Thai hostages as part of the first phase of the hostage deal.
The terror group had said this week that it would pause the releases following what it said were Israel’s violations of the ceasefire. On Thursday, however, the group said it would release three hostages on Saturday, as required under the deal.
Though talks for the second phase were supposed to commence on February 3 — day 16 of the first phase — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has thus far refused to negotiate.
Seventy-three of the hostages abducted on October 7, 2023, remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 35 confirmed dead by the IDF.
Hamas has so far released 21 hostages — civilians, soldiers, and Thai nationals — during a ceasefire that began in January.
The terror group freed 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November 2023, and four hostages were released before that. Eight hostages have been rescued alive by troops, and the bodies of 40 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the Israeli military as they tried to escape their captors.
Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the body of an IDF soldier who was killed in 2014. The body of another IDF soldier, also killed in 2014, was recovered from Gaza in January.
