- Kfir Bibas, taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz by Hamas on October 7, becomes one
- The baby has spent more than a quarter of his life as a hostage in the Gaza Strip
- The Mail on Sunday was shown around his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz by a cousin
The youngest Israeli hostage held by Hamas turns one this week – after spending a quarter of his life in captivity in Gaza.
Little Kfir Bibas is still among more than 130 hostages still held in Hamas’s underground tunnels in the war zone.
Today marks 100 days since Hamas terrorists stormed the border and launched a terror attack that killed 1,200 Israelis, sparking a conflict that threatens to spiral into a full-scale regional war.
Footage filmed by Hamas showed Kfir’s desperate mother Shiri, 30, clinging to her red-haired baby and four-year-old son Ariel as they were led away by armed men.
Her cousin Yosi told The Mail on Sunday: “Have you seen the video? Shiri screams, but she doesn’t make a sound. There is no voice. Did you see that? She was so scared.’
Kfir Bibas was kidnapped on October 7 and turns one year this week after spending a quarter of his life in captivity in Gaza
Relatives do not know if Biba’s family is still alive. Hamas released a video showing 37-year-old father Yarden crying after the terrorists informed him that the rest of his family had been killed.
Yosi showed our reporters around Bibas’ modest family home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, which has been frozen in time since that terrible day when Hamas invaded southern Israel.
As he opened the front door, Yosi warned us about the stench of Tony, the family dog, who was shot dead by Hamas gunmen. Bullet holes pepper the walls. The baby’s mattress is splattered with blood.
The boys’ small shoes are neatly stacked in a corner and their toy carts are discarded in the bathroom.
Relatives in Israel don’t really know if the Bibas family is still alive. In November, Hamas released a brutal propaganda video of 37-year-old father Yarden sobbing after terrorists informed him that the rest of his family had been killed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza tunnels. However, the Israeli government has not confirmed that they are dead – so there is still hope.
Two months ago, more than a hundred hostages were released during a ceasefire, but the Bibas were not among them. Little Kfir turns one year old on Thursday.
Yosi, 45, said: “We don’t know what condition they are in, but I am hopeful that they are still alive. We heard from the returned hostages that Yarden was in very bad shape. I don’t dare think about little Kfir. Will he be okay when he comes back? Does he get any nutrition at all to develop? How does Shiri manage to keep from crying? We heard that hostages had to remain in silence. You don’t have to think about it.’
Kfir is believed to be held in a network of underground tunnels beneath the Gaza Strip, along with the remaining Israeli hostages
More than 130 hostages are still being held in Hamas’s underground tunnels in Gaza
Shiri’s parents Margit, 63, and her husband José, 67, were executed along with their dog Ktana during the Hamas attack on the kibbutz in southern Israel.
Their house burned down and the terrorists beheaded the dog. In the driveway there are small red handprints in the cement of the deceased couple’s grandchildren.
Back at the Biba’s house, Yosi said, “Shiri is a wonderful mother, they are such a happy family, she loves children, she loves her boys, it’s clear from the things scattered around that this was once a beautiful, loving house was, now it’s just gloomy and sad. Hamas has taken three generations of my family.”
Yosi held Ariel’s drawings and said, “Ariel loves Batman and superheroes. One of the childhood photos he took says ‘Batman’ in big letters, and underneath it ‘I fly and save people stuck in a well’… it’s almost a prophecy. Maybe, maybe he will save everyone from the Hamas tunnels.”