Former Hamas hostage marks bar mitzvah

(JNS) — Former Hamas captive Erez Kalderon celebrated his bar mitzvah in Kiryat Gat, southeast of Ashkelon, on Thursday, after marking his 12th birthday in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas terrorists kidnapped Kalderon, along with his father, Ofer, and 16-year-old sister, Sahar, from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz during the terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Erez and Sahar were among 105 hostages released last November as part of a weeklong ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Ofer, now 53, remains a captive in Gaza.

“It was very difficult. For probably the first time in the last year, w...