Yarden novel is free. The 36-year-old Israeli, who also has a German passport, was one of the sixth group of hostages that the Islamist Hamas handed over to the Red Cross as part of the ceasefire. Roman was kidnapped by Hamas from Kibbutz Be’eri in southern Israel with her husband Alon and their three-year-old daughter Geffen on the morning of October 7th, although the family was able to jump out of the moving car. But while Alon and Geffen managed to escape, Yarden Roman stayed behind and was kidnapped to the Gaza Strip.
Her family subsequently organized a major publicity campaign to draw attention to the fate of Yarden Roman and the other hostages and to create pressure for their release. They met representatives of the Red Cross, as well as German politicians such as Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and provided journalists with information and photos. For the features section of the South German newspaper Israeli historian Amir Teicher wrote about the case, conducted interviews with family members and friends and conducted research. All episodes of the loose series can be found here.
When the news of an initial agreement to release hostages became known, there was great relief in Israel – but families like the Romans continued to fear. The first people released were mainly older citizens and mothers with children. It was clear to the family that Yarden Roman would not fall into this group – but they held out hope that the ceasefire would hold and more groups of hostages would be released. Two additional days could mean 20 more women, Roni, Yarden Roman’s sister, calculated at the time when she spoke to Amir Teicher. And she was right.
While the first release became more concrete last week, the Roman family organized a large solidarity event in a climbing hall – Yarden Roman is a passionate sport climber. But even after Yarden’s release, the family members have to worry: Yarden Roman’s sister-in-law Carmel Gat is still in the hands of Hamas; she was also kidnapped from Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7th.