Simon Hunter
SPAIN’S Foreign Ministry on Wednesday confirmed the death of Maya Villalobo Sinvany, a 19-year-old woman with joint Spanish-Israeli nationality who had been missing since Hamas launched its unprecedented attack on Israel this past Saturday.
Villalobo was doing her military service within the Israeli armed forces at a base located close to the Gaza strip, according to Spanish press reports.
“The Spanish government once again reiterates its most energetic condemnation of Hamas’s terrorist attack on Israel,” the ministry said in a statement, adding: “And it expresses its deepest condolences to family and friends after the death of Maya Villalobo Sinvany.”
Videos released by Hamas of their attack on Saturday show a number of recordings of an assault on the base where Villalobo was stationed, according to Spanish daily El Mundo.
In the images dozens of fighters dressed in black and carrying weapons are seen running across the desert toward the border fence, and then on toward the base.
CNN reported that Hamas kidnapped at least six female soldiers from the military installation.
Villalobo was the daughter of a Spanish biology professor at the University of Seville, while her mother lives in Jerusalem where she works at a clinical research company.
Also on Wednesday, a 22-year-old Spanish man from the Basque Country was still missing in Israel in the wake of the attacks. His name is Ivan Illarramendi and has been living on a kibbutz close to the border with Gaza for the last two years, according to El Mundo.
Read more:
- Two non-local men arrested for alleged racism against Jewish community in Gibraltar
- Soldier, 19, from Sevilla is among two missing Spaniards in Israel following deadly Hamas attack
