Hope for Israel’s youngest Hamas hostage as Kfir Bibas, who was kidnapped at nine months on October 7, is named on list of 34 people earmarked for release
There is hope for Israel’s youngest Hamas hostage as Kfir Bibas, one year old, has been named on the list of 34 prisoners earmarked for release.
Kfir, then just nine months old, was kidnapped on October 7 when Hamas terrorists stormed the Nir Oz kibbutz in southern Israel, where he lived with his older brother Ariel, their mother Shiri and father Yarden. The whole family was kidnapped.
The baby turned one year old in captivity on January 18, 2024, a day known in Israel as “the world’s saddest birthday” and faces another birthday as a hostage.
Now there is hope that the Bibas family could be released soon, as Kfir, Ariel – who Hamas claimed was killed a year ago – and Shiri have been named on a list of 34 hostages that Hamas is willing to release in exchange for a ceasefire in Syria. Gaza.
But Israel has accused Hamas of “psychological terror” for naming the hostages but not actually confirming whether they are alive. The list includes Britain’s Emily Damari, nine other women, eleven men over the age of 50 and eleven people declared ill.
Benjamin Netanyahu claimed it was in fact a list of people he requested for release last July, to which the Israeli government received no response.
An official from the Prime Minister’s Office dismissed it as a “spin” to put pressure on Israel during the negotiations and called on the media to ignore the “propaganda and psychological terror.”
“They haven’t said who’s alive and who’s not; they did not send any list,” they said. “So as far as we are now, there is no progress.”
Kfir Bibas, then just nine months old, was kidnapped on October 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists stormed the Nir Oz kibbutz in southern Israel, where Kfir lived with his older brother Ariel, their mother Shiri and father Yarden.
The image of the two young boys being carried by their weeping mother, Shiri, as they were marched from their homes was one of the most striking published in the early days of the war between Israel and Hamas.
Bullet holes cover the bedroom wall of hostage Ariel Bibas, 4, in his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, Israel
The Bibas family was taken on October 7 and images were later released of a bleeding Yarden being driven into Gaza on a motorcycle.
Grainy footage also captured the moment Shiri was dragged from a white car while clinging to baby Kfir.
Another shot showed Hamas militants leading the terrified mother into a series of buildings and throwing a blanket over her head.
At the time the footage was released, IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said the military was “very concerned” about the family’s well-being. He said the military found the videos in security cameras seized during the offensive in Khan Younis.
Shiri’s parents, Margaret and Yosi Silverman, who lived on the same kibbutz, were murdered and their bodies found near the Gaza border. The Bibas family’s beloved dog, Tony, was also shot dead.
In gruesome video footage released in April last year, Kfir’s missing father Yarden was shown covered in blood and beaten by a crowd of Palestinians as cheering terrorists drove him away on a motorbike on October 7.
The video was shared on social media by Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who wrote: “The world must not remain silent when confronted with such crimes. Take them home now!’
Yarden is said to have surrendered to the gunmen in the hope that they would take him away and spare his wife and children. He is believed to be living in Gaza, but the fate of his family remains unclear.
Kfir and Ariel are the last child hostages still held by Hamas.
The Bibas family, father Yarden, mother Shiri, baby Kfir and four-year-old Ariel, were captured by Hamas terrorists from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023
Ariel Bibas is pictured here playing with bubbles. He was captured by Hamas terrorists on October 7
Grainy footage, released by the IDF with the family’s consent and shared with MailOnline, shows a group the IDF identifies as Hamas members pulling a woman out of a parked white car while she is holding a young child or baby.
Yarden Bibas is pictured during his capture by Hamas on October 7 in a photo that appeared before his latest video. He is bleeding from a head wound and has blood on his hands. His relatives have not heard from him since
This comes after a Hamas source told Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat yesterday that Palestinian factions need another week to provide details on the condition of each hostage on the list.
Previously, the terrorists have requested a ceasefire just so they can check who is still alive.
The inability to provide proof of life has emerged as one of the main sticking points in negotiations so far, with fears that Hamas has lost track of many of the prisoners.
But mediators are keen to build on US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s momentum, hoping to finally get a deal done before Donald Trump takes office on January 20.
“We really want to get this across the finish line in the next two weeks, in the time we have left,” he told a news conference in South Korea yesterday.
With nearly 100 hostages remaining in Gaza, more than half of whom are believed to be alive, Israel last summer proposed a partial release of 40 hostages as the first phase of a ceasefire.
Since then, five on that list have been executed by Hamas: Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Almog Sarsuri, Eden Yerushalmi, Carmel Gat and Avraham Munder. Meanwhile, one, Kaid Farhan al-Qadi, was rescued by the IDF.
Mediators had pushed for an initial partial release as a bridge proposal, as Hamas demands a total withdrawal before every hostage is released, while Israel will not withdraw until all prisoners are released.
“I am terrified that Emily and the other female hostages are being exposed to the continued threat of sexual violence,” Ms Damari said.
Emily Damari (pictured before her arrest) is believed to still be held in Hamas tunnels under Gaza after being kidnapped on October 7 last year
It is the first phase of a three-phase agreement that would end with a total ceasefire and IDF withdrawal.
Emily Damari, one of those on Hamas’ list for release, was taken away her home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, near the Gaza border, where she was born and raised.
Her beloved golden cockapoo, Choocha, was shot dead in her arms, with the attack leaving her with a gunshot wound to the hand.
Emily is the only British hostage still held by Hamas and is believed to be still being held in the tunnels in Gaza.