Who is Iván Illarramendi, the Spaniard who is among the 200 kidnapped by Hamas

Iván llarramendi and his partner, Dafna, lived in the Kissufim kibbutz, two kilometers from the Gaza Strip.. They both disappeared on October 7, during the attacks on Israel, and now the Ministry has confirmed that he is among the 200 captured by Hamas, although she remains missing.

Illarramendi is 46 years old and is a native of Zarautz while his wife, 47, is Chilean with Israeli roots, according to Gabriel Colodro, president of the Chilean Community in Israel.. The couple was inside their house, in a kibbutz, where they lived with 300 other people who are dedicated to agricultural activity, at the time of the Hamas attack on Israel.

A call for help

When Iván and Dafna realized what was happening, they immediately called their families to let them know, but it was too late.. When the police showed up at the house, it was empty and without signs of violence, so, from the beginning, it was considered that they had been kidnapped.

The Government of Spain demands

After hearing the news, the acting President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has conveyed “the demand for the immediate release, without conditions, of all the hostages held by Hamas, including our compatriot Iván Illarramendi.”

He did so during an institutional statement after a meeting of the European Council, after the Israeli Foreign Ministry included Illarramendi among those kidnapped in the hands of the terrorist group, which has about 200 hostages in its possession: in a message on the social network X the Israeli department had included the Spanish flag among those of the 42 countries whose nationals are in the hands of Hamas.