The Israeli Foreign Ministry has confirmed this Tuesday that the Spanish Iván Illarramendi, of whom there has been no news since last October 7 when the Hamas attack took place in Israel, would be kidnapped in the hands of this terrorist group, which He has about 200 hostages in his possession.
The acting President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, confirmed this Wednesday that the Spanish Iván Illarramendi is one of the hostages held by Hamas after the attack on Israel and has demanded his immediate release as well as those of the rest of the people who remain. captured.
Sánchez made this request in a statement at the Moncloa Palace after participating in the summit held by videoconference between EU leaders to analyze the situation of the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
In a message on X, former Twitter, the Israeli Ministry has expressly included the Spanish flag among those of the 42 countries whose nationals are in the hands of Hamas. Until now, the Spanish Government had not wanted to go into details about the circumstances in which Illarramendi, 46 years old and from Zarautz, would find himself.
The acting Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, had announced on October 9 that there were two Spaniards “affected” by the attack by land, sea and air perpetrated by Hamas. Later, on October 11, the Government confirmed that the other Spaniard, the young Maya Villalobo, 19 years old and who was doing military service in Israel, had died.
Until now, the only thing known about Illarramendi is that he was with his wife, a Chilean national, in Kibbutz Kissufim, very close to the border with the Gaza Strip, and that it had been assaulted by Hamas militiamen.
In its message on X, the Israeli Foreign Ministry stressed that “foreign citizens from more than 40 countries are currently being held hostage by Hamas.” “We ask you as parents, as children, as human beings to share their stories and help us bring them back home,” he encourages, in line with what a Ministry spokesperson also states in the video that accompanies the text.
