Hamas announces deaths of youngest hostages
Hamas’ youngest hostages, Kfir and Ariel Bibas, 2 and 5, and their mother are dead, and their bodies will be returned to Israel this week, the terror group said in an announcement on Tuesday.
Kfir Bibas never celebrated a birthday in freedom after he and his family were kidnapped on October 7, 2023, when he was just nine months old.
Israel has not confirmed the deaths of the red-headed boys and their mother, Shiri, but said it had “grave concerns” about their well-being.
The terror group’s leader in Gaza, Khalil Al Hayya, said that the four bodies of hostages will be handed over on Thursday, while six living hostages, some held for over a decade, will be returned on Saturday.
The six to be released on Saturday are the last living hostages to be freed under the ceasefire’s first phase. Three had originally been expected to be freed.
It was not immediately clear why Hamas had changed the plan.
Israeli response and ceasefire negotiations
An Israeli official told the Associated Press that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed to allow mobile homes and construction equipment into Gaza as residents begin to return to their homes and try to rebuild after 15 months of war.
Hamas last week threatened to hold up the release of hostages, citing the refusal to allow the supplies to come in, among other alleged violations of the ceasefire deal.
The hostage releases have come in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
The ceasefire that began in mid-January has brought a halt to the deadliest fighting ever between Israel and Hamas, surged aid into devastated Gaza, and allowed hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to return to their homes as Israeli forces withdrew from much of the territory.
The sides have yet to negotiate the second and more difficult phase, in which Hamas would release dozens more hostages in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
Israel’s government says it wants to eliminate Hamas in Gaza.
But the militant group quickly reasserted its control of the territory during the ceasefire despite losing leaders and many fighters.
Previously, Israelis were horrified by the sight of three emaciated hostages in an earlier release this month, and revelations about hostages being held alone, barefoot, or in chains have increased the pressure on Netanyahu’s government to push ahead with the ceasefire’s next stage.
