Israeli hostages Yarden Bibas, 35, and Ofer Calderon, 54, were escorted back to Israeli soil by IDF forces Saturday morning after 484 days in captivity. They arrived at the reception point in Re’im base near the Gaza border where they will undergo initial medical evaluation and reunite with their families.
A third hostage, Keith Siegel, a U.S.-Israel dual citizen, is expected to be released later in the day from the Gaza port area, according to reports.
Bibas and Calderon were first handed over to Red Cross teams in Khan Younis in a staged handover ceremony, surrounded by dozens of armed operatives. Calderon, who was abducted from his home as a civilian, was notably dressed in a military uniform. After the transfer, both were placed in IDF custody before making their way to Israeli territory.
Similar incidents occurred in the first exchange, when released hostages Doron Steinbrecher, Emily Damari and Romi Gonen were surrounded by mobs in Gaza City. However, Israeli officials believe Hamas has adjusted its procedures after facing international backlash and does not plan a repeat of these scenes on Saturday.
White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt reaffirmed U.S. President Donald Trump’s commitment to securing the release of all remaining hostages, saying, “The president remains steadfast in his efforts to bring home every hostage who should never have been taken by the brutal terrorist organization Hamas. The White House welcomes the release of the eight additional hostages yesterday, thanks to a deal brokered by President Trump. They are finally reuniting with their families after enduring more than 15 months of inhumane captivity.”
Yarden Bibas, Ofer Calderon handed over to Red Cross in Khan Younis
Yarden Bibas was released on Saturday, but his wife, Shiri, and their two young sons, Kfir and Ariel, remain in Hamas captivity. Israeli officials demanded a clear answer from Hamas regarding their fate, as they were originally expected to be freed in the early stages of the deal, which prioritized the release of women and children. No new information has been provided, deepening fears about their condition.
The Health Ministry announced that, following initial medical evaluations, the three hostages will be transferred to Sourasky and Sheba medical centers, with Barzilai and Soroka hospitals on standby in case urgent medical intervention is needed. As in previous releases, IDF forces will escort the hostages out of Gaza, bringing them to a reception center in Re’im, where they will receive immediate care and reunite with their families before heading to the designated hospitals for further treatment.
As part of the cease-fire deal, Israel is set to release 90 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the hostages—nine serving life sentences and 81 others convicted of long-term offenses. However, Hamas’ “Ministry of Prisoners” in Gaza published a list of 183 names, including 18 serving life terms, 54 with lengthy sentences and 111 Gaza residents detained after October 7.
After weeks of uncertainty and fear, hostages Yarden Bibas and Ofer Calderon have been safely returned to Israeli soil. The two Israeli citizens were kidnapped by a terrorist group while traveling abroad, sparking a massive international effort to secure their release.
The news of their safe return has brought a sense of relief and joy to the entire nation. Families, friends, and supporters have been eagerly awaiting this moment, praying for their safe return.
We commend the efforts of the Israeli security forces and diplomatic personnel who worked tirelessly to bring Yarden and Ofer back home. Their dedication and determination have not gone unnoticed, and we are grateful for their hard work.
As we celebrate their safe return, let us remember the importance of unity and solidarity in times of crisis. The people of Israel have once again shown their strength and resilience in the face of adversity.
Welcome home, Yarden and Ofer. Your bravery and courage inspire us all.
The Red Cross has begun traveling to a meeting point in Gaza City’s port to collect Keith Siegel from Hamas captivity – the third and final hostage expected to be released on Saturday.
The Palestinian crowds awaiting Keith’s release were visibly larger than those which surrounded the release of Ofer Kalderon and Yarden Bibas, based on a livestream published by Al Jazeera.
Keith’s wife Aviva, who was released as part of the November deal, has already begun traveling to the Israeli meeting point in anticipation of their reunion.
Ofer Kalderon and Yarden Bibas crossed back into Israel’s territory, and are currently at the reception point, on Saturday morning after spending over a year in captivity, the IDF confirmed. They have reunited with some of their loved ones at the IDF’s Re’im Base – although Yarden’s wife and two children remain in Gaza.
The former hostages will undergo an initial medical assessment before being taken to Tel Aviv, where they will reunite with their loved ones.
Ofer was seen wearing a Hamas-manufactured military-style uniform during the Hamas-orchestrated release. Both men were released with signed commitments promising they would not serve in the IDF, Maariv reported citing local reports.
Yarden Bibas and Ofer Kalderon released from Hamas captivity. (credit: REUTERS TV, screenshot)
Qatari state-run media giant Al Jazeera, which broadcast a live stream of the event, noted that both captives were able to walk independently and claimed they were in good health.
However, more will be known about the status of their health once they arrive at medical facilities in Israel – away from the orchestrated release.
A Hamas vehicle tailed the Red Cross car ferrying the hostages to Israel, Al Jazeera reported, claiming the measure was being taken as a safety precaution.
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A third hostage, Keith Sigel, is expected to be released in Gaza City.
Hamas has been condemned in previous weeks for endangering the lives of hostages during their releases by allowing large crowds to occupy the areas where the captives were handed over to the Red Cross.
The IDF is preparing for the transfer of hostages Keith Siegel, Yarden Bibas, and Ofer Kalderon as part of the implementation of the hostage deal agreement, which is expected to begin at 08:30 a.m. in the Gaza Strip, a security source reported.
The preparations come as Israel readies for three hostages to be released from captivity and Gaza. Concurrently, the Israel Prison Service is readying to release 183 Palestinian security prisoners.
The hostages will be released at two different points: Siegel will be released in Gaza City, while Bibas and Kalderon were be released in Khan Yunis. N12 initially reported that Siegel would be released from Jabaliya.
Yarden Bibas, Ofer Kalderon and Keith Samuel Siegel. (credit: Canva, Hostages and Missing Families Forum)
Destination point for each hostage
After the hostages cross into Israeli territory and meet with their family members at the IDF’s Re’im base, they will be evacuated for medical treatment, N12 added.
Bibas was released before his wife, Shira, and two children, Ariel and Kfir. Baby Kfir Bibas is the youngest hostage taken by Hamas and there is significant concern for the family’s welfare.
Bibas and Kalderon will reportedly be evacuated to Sheba Medical Center, while Keith will receive treatment at Sourasky Medical Center.
In a daring escape, hostages Keith Siegel, Yarden Bibas, and Ofer Kalderon have finally been freed and are now heading to safety. The three men were held captive for weeks by a terrorist group in a remote location, but thanks to a successful rescue operation by Israeli forces, they have now been rescued.
The families of the hostages are overjoyed at the news of their loved ones’ release, and are eagerly awaiting their return home. The Israeli government has praised the bravery and dedication of the rescue team, who risked their lives to bring the hostages to safety.
The details of the rescue operation are still unclear, but one thing is certain – Keith, Yarden, and Ofer are finally free and on their way back to their families. This news brings hope and relief to all those who have been following their ordeal, and serves as a reminder of the resilience and strength of the Israeli people in the face of adversity.
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The family of four were among more than 180 residents of kibbutz Nir Oz, a farming community in southern Israel, who were killed or abducted in the Oct. 7 attack. Since then, the family became the faces of a national trauma that sparked a fierce Israeli war in Gaza aimed at eradicating Hamas, an onslaught that has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials, who do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
More than 1,750 people in Israel have been killed in the war, about 1,200 of them on the day of the Oct. 7 attack, according to Israeli officials. The toll includes more than 890 members of the Israeli military forces.
Throughout more than a year of waiting, hostage families and their supporters have carried orange balloons and worn orange shirts in honor of the missing children and their ginger-colored hair. They have held large events to mark the first two birthdays of Kfir, who has never celebrated one out of captivity.
All other children seized in the Oct. 7 attack were released in a previous cease-fire deal.
Israeli officials pressed Hamas negotiators in recent days for more clarity on Ms. Bibas and her children, according to Israeli media. As a female civilian with children, they were expected to be released in the initial stages of the cease-fire deal, before soldiers or men, if they were alive.
Mr. Bibas was abducted separately from his family.
In the early morning hours before his capture, he texted his sister, Ofri Bibas-Levy, to tell her about incoming rocket fire, according to an interview she gave to Kan, the Israeli public broadcaster. Later, he texted her that militants had entered the camp. He had a gun, he told her, but the militants had automatic rifles.
He then described scenes of clashes on the kibbutz and his fear that his two young sons would not be able to keep quiet.
“It feels like the end,” he wrote her at 9:10 in the morning.
Video from the Oct. 7 attack on Nir Oz revealed images of militants drilling open the Bibas family’s front door.
Sometime before her brother was captured, Ms. Bibas-Levy told Kan, he texted her and their parents that he loved them. At 9:45 in the morning, he wrote: “They’re in.”
Ms. Bibas-Levy told Kan that the first she learned of her brother’s Oct. 7 kidnapping when she saw a video of militants abducting him a few days later.
In a surprising turn of events, Hamas has announced that they will be releasing Israeli father Yarden Bibas, whose family was taken hostage by the militant group. This news comes after weeks of intense negotiations between Hamas and Israeli authorities, and is seen as a positive step towards de-escalating tensions in the region.
Yarden Bibas, a devoted father of three, was abducted by Hamas militants while visiting a relative in Gaza. His wife and children were also taken captive, sparking outrage and condemnation from both Israeli and international leaders. The Bibas family’s ordeal has been a harrowing one, with reports of mistreatment and threats of violence against them.
However, in a statement released today, Hamas officials have confirmed that they will be releasing Yarden Bibas and his family as a gesture of goodwill towards Israel. This development has been met with cautious optimism by Israeli officials, who have expressed hope that this could be the first step towards a broader peace agreement in the region.
The release of Yarden Bibas is a testament to the power of diplomacy and negotiation in resolving conflicts. It is a reminder that even in the midst of great adversity, there is always room for dialogue and compromise. As we await Yarden Bibas’ safe return to his loved ones, let us continue to work towards a peaceful and just resolution to the longstanding conflict between Israel and Palestine.
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Hamas, Yarden Bibas, Israeli father, hostage situation, Middle East conflict, Israel-Palestine relations, hostage release, family reunion, political negotiations, international news, peace talks.
People in Israel and across the world have pledged to wear orange on Wednesday, in homage to the hair color of the last two young children still held hostage in Gaza.
“Orange Day,” in honor of Kfir and Ariel Bibas and their parents, Shiri and Yarden, is just the latest activist initiative to keep the world’s eyes on the family of four, who were taken captive on Oct. 7, 2023, and have become symbols of the hostages’ plight.
Graffiti of the family — including one piece in Tel Aviv showing the older brother pushing a stroller with the words, “Ariel will never be the same again” — has appeared all over Israel’s streets. Fueled by the passion of mothers who too easily can see their own children in Kfir and Ariel, posts about them routinely go viral on social media around the world. They have inspired art, songs, prayers and even, briefly, a fruitless digital detective hunt after a video showing two red-haired boys among a crowd of Gazan children circulated last summer.
The family’s symbolism has endured even as reasons for optimism have dwindled. Still, Israelis and their most prominent spokespeople have proceeded with the hope that the Bibases are alive. Itamar Lippner, a Tel Aviv attorney, might have been speaking for an entire nation when he posted on social media this week, “All the signs point to bad news.”
Then he added, “Of course, I keep on praying that all the signs are wrong.”
Orange balloons have become a symbol of the Bibas family because of the abducted children’s red hair. (credit: MIRIAM ALSTER/FLASH90)
The Israeli government seems to be priming the public for tragedy. There’s no indication that officials have insisted on their release during the first weeks of the current ceasefire, even as others have gone free. A delay in the release of another civilian, Arbel Yehud, threatened to derail the ceasefire and led Israel to clamp down on Palestinian civilians in Gaza. Israel has made no such ultimatums around the Bibas family.
Last week, in one of the most direct official Israeli comments on the family’s state, IDF Spokesman Daniel Hagari expressed “grave concerns for their fate.” This week, Israel received word that of the 26 hostages yet to be released in the ceasefire’s first phase, 18 are alive and eight are dead.
“The information we received is not good,” Shiri’s cousin Jimmy Miller, who has acted as a family spokesperson, said on Tuesday. “The army is afraid about the state in which they will be returned, but nothing is proven yet.”
Like Miller, Jews around the world are facing down the cruel question of which group the Bibas family is in — and in many cases wishing away signs that the answer will be crushing.
“I’ve consistently chosen to believe that the news will be good,” said Hemdat Beck, a nonprofit worker from Tel Aviv. “Of course, there have been moments of despair and breakdowns, but even when my friends mentioned rumors coming from Hamas [about hostages who were killed], I said it was a lie, that it wasn’t true. If it were truly true, there would have been an official announcement by now, and since there hasn’t been any at any point, I choose to believe this is not their fate.”
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More than any other hostage, the Bibases have come to represent not only the struggle to free the captives but, in the eyes of Israel’s supporters around the world, the justice of their cause following the tragedy of Hamas’ massacre. The family has, in turn, become a conduit for the torrent of Jewish and Israeli emotions that flowed from Oct. 7 and its aftermath — as if carrying the pain, grief and resilience that have characterized 16 months of efforts to free the hostages.
The faces of the Bibas family were burned into the consciousnesses of many beginning on Oct. 7, when footage spread of a terrified Shiri clutching the two young boys as they were abducted to Gaza. It was an early and raw image of the day’s atrocities.
Since then, photos of the young family have become some of the most recognizable pictures of the hostages: a photo of Kfir Bibas, taken captive at 9 months old, smiling; a shot of the family in matching Batman pajamas; another of Shiri hugging her children in happier times.
Hostage rallies around the world have centered on fragments of the Bibas family’s life: 11 days ago, gatherings around the world marked Kfir’s second birthday. People have shown up at rallies for the hostages in Batman costumes — an homage to the photo.
“I get messages all the time from people — mainly women — saying, ‘I’m not sleeping, if they don’t get out alive I don’t think I’ll ever get over this,’” said Jonny Daniels, a pro-Israel influencer who said his posts about the Bibases routinely get the most engagement by a wide margin. “If you ask anyone in the world to identify the Israeli hostages, most will tell you the ginger children.”
All of the other children abducted to Gaza have long been home. In November 2023, during the first ceasefire in the war, Hamas released dozens of children among more than 100 total hostages who went free.
The Bibas brothers were not among them. That week, Hamas announced that Shiri and the boys had been killed, releasing a torturous video of Yarden, who was abducted separately, after he had received that news.
At the time, Israel said it could not confirm Hamas’ allegation, accusing the terror group of psychological warfare. No further information emerged in the ensuing 15 months, even as the fates of many other hostages — both living and dead — were confirmed publicly by the government.
The Bibas’ relatives have continued to reject suggestions that the family is dead. In June, the family criticized former Defense Minister Benny Gantz for telling Israel’s public broadcaster that he believed Israel knew the fate of the Bibases, and that the public would hear “when the time is ripe.”
And on Monday, they released a statement, once again urging the public to refrain from sharing unverified information even as Israeli officials said they had informed the families of the eight hostages believed to be dead about their status.
“Since October 7th, when the video of the cruel abduction was published, we have been living in fear and anxiety for their fate every minute of every day,” the statement reads. “We ask you to respect Shiri, Yarden, Ariel, and Kfir, as well as the entire family, and refrain from spreading rumors or speculations that unsettle us.”
‘Trying not to drown in a sea of rumors’
Eli Bibas, the children’s grandfather, recently addressed a crowd at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv saying that he was “trying not to drown in a sea of rumors, the news, the half truths and lies around the negotiations.”
A few family members have been sounding notes of despair. On the occasion of Kfir’s second birthday, Shiri’s cousin Jimmy said, “We won’t do anything special because the situation is very strange. We know nothing about them.”
As talk turns to reconstruction of Gaza, a grim possibility has begun to be discussed openly — that some Israeli hostages may never be found. David Barnea, the head of the Mossad intelligence agency, reportedly told hostage families this week that bodies of hostages that lie under the rubble may be destroyed if bulldozers are used to clear the territory.
The uncertainty around the Bibas family feels frustrating to some Israelis. Lippner said Israeli press outlets often “dance around the subject.”
Channel 12 came under fire for originally mentioning the “women” hostages to be released during the ceasefire, leaving out the word “children.” After a backlash, the channel added the word into its coverage.
Some say they understand why it might be appealing to extend hope in a traumatized country.
“I want to believe that if there were even a shred of hope that they were alive, everything possible would have been done to save them,” said Avigail Harel, an Israeli nonprofit worker. “Sadly, I think the state has evidence that they have not been alive for a long time, but does not want to publicize or discuss it too much because they know it would become a national trauma.”
Beck was among those who explain their optimism by noting that Hamas said Hanna Katsir was dead, only to release her alive days later. A Hamas announcement in 2023 also seemed to suggest Daniella Gilboa was dead; she walked across a stage in Gaza last week before her release.
Beck said that in light of how invested many have become in the Bibas’ fate, Hamas may view the family as a valuable bargaining chip.
“It really feels with the Bibases like last-minute fake rumors meant to inflame,” she said. “I think they have a very strong interest in keeping them alive. Unless, God forbid, they were killed by our own forces over time, I want to believe in the good.”
Recently, as people understand that firmer news about the Bibas family is imminent because of the ceasefire, social media has erupted anew with posts about the family. Ms. Rachel, the toddler video superstar who drew criticism from some supporters of Israel for raising money for children in Gaza last year, posted Kfir’s photo on his birthday, wishing “that Kfir, his brother Ariel, and his parents, Yarden and Shiri, come home.”
Tablet magazine recently posted a stylized illustration of Shiri and the boys against the backdrop of masked Hamas gunmen. Rabbi Evan Schultz posted a poem imagining the family as a “great big orange tree,” adding that if they die, “know we all loved you and will visit your tree regularly watering it with tears and fragile ribbons of hope.” And hundreds of people pledged on social media to don orange on Wednesday.
Daniels described hearing from parents in the United States who were distraught after catching their 5-year-old packing a backpack “to go and get Ariel and Kfir.” He said the extent of emotional investment in the family worries him — especially if it emerges that the worst came to pass.
“Their story has impacted people on a level that is kind of indescribable,” he said. “I’m reminding people that this is a very difficult time, but there has to be a separation between you and them. You’re not their family.”
He added, “I’m thoroughly concerned about what happens when they do come out and how they come out. If it doesn’t end with what we all hope for, I don’t know how people’s mental health is going to be, and this is wide-scale. I’m talking about individuals everywhere. This isn’t just an Israeli issue — this is a strong international issue.”
Daniels’ partner, Danielle Katz, is a psychiatrist in private practice in the United States. She said she frequently encounters women who are deeply invested in the Bibas family’s story. The women, she noted, are typically middle-aged, affluent and white.
“These are the most involved, the most consumed and the most concerned by it all,” Katz said. “Add on top of that that these are also Jewish mothers, you have the perfect recipe for people who are completely distraught.”
While attention to the Bibases comes from a deep sense of caring, she said, she has also heard darker and more complicated themes.
“I hear from clients all the time: It’s almost a survivor’s guilt of being over here. … People feel like being involved and being angry and being emotionally invested is their only contribution,” she said, noting that the investment can come at a cost.
“There are a lot of women who have told me that their children have felt somewhat neglected by the obsession of it all, asking, ‘Do you love me as much as you love Israel?’ ‘Do you love me as much as you love the Bibases?’” Katz said.
Natalie Solomon, who works at a Jewish school in Dallas, said she recognized that outsized attention is paid to the Bibas family — but said it’s because the Jewish people have become wrapped up in their fate.
“We’re all just waiting. Holding our breath. Desperate for any piece of news,” she said. “If me, a mom in Texas, can’t stop thinking about a mother and her babies in the depth of hell, how does the family feel? The torture is not just of Shiri, Yarden, Ariel and Kfir, although of course we can’t possibly imagine what they are going through.”
She continued, “The torture to all of Am Yisrael waiting for these little red-headed boys to be back home — I don’t want to hear speculation, I only want to hear the official statement.”
The Bibas family, a group of Israeli citizens, has been held captive in Gaza for over a year now, and their loved ones in Israel are clinging to hope for their safe return. Despite efforts from the Israeli government and international organizations to negotiate their release, the family remains in captivity, their fate uncertain.
The Bibas family’s ordeal began when they were kidnapped while visiting Gaza for a family event. Since then, their relatives in Israel have been living in a constant state of anxiety, unsure of the conditions in which their loved ones are being held and desperate for any news of their well-being.
The situation highlights the ongoing tensions and hostilities between Israel and Gaza, as well as the toll that conflicts in the region take on innocent civilians. As the Bibas family’s ordeal continues, their relatives in Israel are holding onto hope for their safe return, praying for a miracle that will bring them back home.
Despite the challenges and obstacles they face, the Bibas family’s loved ones in Israel remain determined to keep fighting for their release, refusing to give up hope that one day they will be reunited with their missing family members. Their story serves as a stark reminder of the human cost of political conflicts, and the enduring power of love and hope in the face of adversity.
The video was gut-wrenching: a mother, terrified and confused, cradling her two young red-headed children as armed militants surround them.
It was the moment they were kidnapped. By the time it was released, Shiri Bibas and her sons were already in Gaza.
It’s been estimated more than 250 hostages were taken as part of Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. The Bibas family is among the most high-profile.
They’re due to be released as part of the delicate and complex multi-phase ceasefire deal signed this month.
Whether they’re alive depends on who you talk to. If they’re not, it’s likely to unleash unbridled fury and sadness in Israel, where the family has become a symbol of the country’s darkest day.
“This is an ongoing nightmare,” Yifat Zailer, Shiri’s cousin, told the ABC.
“Until now, until today, no organisation, not the Red Cross, not UNICEF, not the Israeli intelligence, can tell us what their situation is.”
The Bibas family has become a symbol of Israel’s darkest day. (Supplied: Nizzan Cohen)
Images of baby Kfir Bibas, who was just eight months old when he was abducted, and his brother Ariel, who was four, adorn murals and posters around the country.
They were the youngest hostages taken and the video made headlines around the world.
The children are believed to have been held with their mother, while their father, Yarden, was also kidnapped, but kept elsewhere.
Over the past 15 months, Hamas has filmed and released videos of some of the hostages saying how difficult their situation is and asking Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for a ceasefire deal and hostage-prisoner exchange.
In November 2023, Hamas published a video of Yarden Bibas being told his wife and children had been killed. Hamas said they were killed in an IDF air strike on Khan Younis, in southern Gaza.
Yarden broke down crying in the video. He is now among 11 male hostages under the age of 50 who are being released because they are physically or psychologically infirm. But it is not known for sure that any of them are still alive.
Hamas released a video of hostage Yarden Bibas, but it’s not known if he is still alive. (Supplied: Telegram)
Ninety-four hostages remain in the Gaza Strip, including 91 taken as part of the 2023 attack and three captured earlier. The fate of many is unclear.
Hamas claimed it tried to release Shiri, Kfir and Ariel’s bodies as part of the first ceasefire at the end of 2023, but that Israel wouldn’t accept them. But it has not released videos or pictures of Shiri and her children either alive or dead.
“I don’t know whether I need to buy them clothes because they don’t have anything left here, their house is completely destroyed,” Yifat said.
“The uncertainty is completely paralysing.”
Israel’s government has said it does not know the family’s fate and has warned that Hamas’s announcements could be psychological warfare. Israeli authorities believe at least half of the 94 hostages in Gaza are alive.
A total of 33 hostages are expected to be released by Hamas as part of phase one of the ceasefire agreement in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians, who are either convicted prisoners or administrative detainees whom Israel has imprisoned without charges or trial.
“These weeks are moving very, very slowly and we hope for the best. We hope to see them, to hug them, to feel them, and to rehabilitate them from this nightmare,” Yifat said.
“All four of them.”
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Hamas freed three living Israeli women last weekend, and announced it would release another four women on Saturday. That means neither the Bibas children nor the father will be released — so likely, not the mother, either.
Yifat and the Bibas family’s other relatives are trying to stay positive.
“We are trying to hold onto hope and think in the most positive way. But from week to week, from release to release, when we don’t know if they are the next ones in line [to be released] or not it becomes harder and harder,” she said.
According to the ceasefire agreement, the day before the transfers, both sides must release the names of the people they will be releasing.
There have been reports in Hebrew media that on Friday, local time, Hamas will provide the names of the four women, along with another list detailing the health status of the other hostages expected to be released in the first phase of the deal.
The Bibas family relatives are not alone in their fears over the fate of their loved ones.
“While we are filled with joy for the four hostages scheduled to be released, knowing that they will be reunited with their families, we simultaneously face the terrifying possibility of learning that some of our loved ones might not be alive,” a statement from Israel’s Hostage and Missing Families Forum read.
The group has been representing people captured and harmed as part of Hamas’s October 7 attack.
Some hostages are known to have been killed later by the Israeli military bombardment, three were mistakenly shot dead by Israeli soldiers, and six are believed to have been killed by their Hamas guards when Israeli soldiers came near.
Many Israelis are sceptical of Hamas’s claims that Shiri, Kfir and Ariel Bibas are among the dead.
That tragic question will soon be answered, if and when they are released.
What’s less clear, is how ready Israelis are for the worst.
Hamas claims that Shiri Bibas and her children have been killed, but many Israelis are skeptical of the terrorist group’s claims. The Israeli government has not confirmed the deaths, and there is speculation that Hamas may be spreading false information for propaganda purposes. As tensions continue to escalate between Israel and Hamas, it is crucial to verify the accuracy of such reports before drawing any conclusions. Stay tuned for updates on this developing situation.
When Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas were not on the list of the names of the captives set to be released on Saturday, “our world caved in on us,” their family said in a post on Instagram.
Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir – as civilian women and children – should have been released before female soldiers, according to the terms of the hostage deal.
When Hamas announced that four female soldiers – Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Liri Albag, and Naama Levy would be released on Saturday, it raised questions regarding the release of the Bibas family, as well as Arbel Yehoud – another civilian woman being held by Hamas.
Hamas has since announced that Arbel Yehoud will be released next week, Reuters reported, and Israel is working to ensure her release comes sooner.
The Bibas relatives added that hearing that their family members were not on the list for Saturday was earth-shattering despite the fact that they had been prepared for the possibility in advance.
Kfir and Ariel Bibas, who are both still in Hamas captivity. (credit: The Bibas family)
“We had hoped to see Shiri and the kids on the list, which was supposed to be a list of civilians,” the family said.
“An exciting and complex day is ahead of us. Liri, Daniella, Naama, and Karina, we are waiting to see you smiling and surrounded by your amazing families at home.
“Shiri, Yarden, Ariel, and Kfir, we will continue to hope and demand you [are brought home],” they said.“It’s not over until it’s over.”
Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir were taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz, along with father Yarden Bibas, who is also slated to be released in the first stage of the deal.
Concern for the Bibas families wellbeing
There is “serious concern” regarding the well-being of Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir, IDF Chief Spokesperson R.-Adm. Daniel Hagari said on Saturday, also noting that the IDF remains “steadfast in our determination” to bring them home.Hamas’s al-Qassam Brigade claimed in November 2023 that Shiri and her two sons had been killed, but the IDF has not established if these claims are true.
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Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad have previously made false claims about the status of the hostages.
The family addressed concerns about Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir’s well-being, stressing that this concern does not absolve the state from its obligation to give the family certainty or the media from speaking about them.
“In the evening, when we turned on the news, our pain, our fight, and mostly the vital discussion of the complexity and disaster of the fact that they are not on the list was gone, not talked about by journalists in the studios,” the family said.
“Does the serious concern for their lives cancel out the fact that they are civilians in captivity who need to come home?” the family asked, also asking if it cancels the state’s obligation to give the family certainty regarding the fate of their loved ones, or if it cancels out the need to show Shiri’s picture as a civilian held hostage in Gaza.
“The answer is no.”
The Bibas family is expressing deep concern after Hamas broke the terms of a recent hostage deal with Israel. The deal, which was brokered by Egyptian mediators, was meant to secure the release of two Israeli civilians, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, as well as the remains of two Israeli soldiers, Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul.
However, Hamas failed to uphold their end of the agreement, as they have not provided any information on the condition or location of the hostages. This has left the Bibas family in a state of uncertainty and worry, as they await news of their loved ones.
The Israeli government has condemned Hamas for their breach of the deal and has called for the immediate release of the hostages. The Bibas family is urging the international community to put pressure on Hamas to fulfill their obligations and bring their family members home safely.
As the situation continues to unfold, the Bibas family is holding out hope for a swift resolution and the safe return of their loved ones.
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