Hamas släpper Yarden Bibas – men inte hans små barn

This page is subject to the extended confirmed restriction related to the Arab-Israeli conflict. On 7 October 2023, as part of the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel and the Nir Oz attack, the Palestinian Islamist militant organization Hamas abducted the Israeli-Argentinian/Peruvian Bibas (Hebrew: ביבס) family from the Nir Oz kibbutz: 9-month-old Kfir (Hebrew: כפיר), 4-year-old Ariel (Hebrew: אריאל), 32-year-old mother Shiri (Hebrew: שירי; née Silberman), and her 34-year-old husband Yarden (Hebrew: ירדן). The youngest child, baby Kfir, was the youngest hostage taken in the 7 October 2023 attacks. Shiri's parents, who also lived on the kibbutz, were later found murdered. Amidst widespread concern and a campaign for their release, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said that Hamas transferred the family to a different armed group within Gaza, the Mujahideen Brigades of the Palestinian Mujahideen Movement. Efforts to release Shiri and her children during a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas were unsuccessful; Hamas later claimed that they were killed as a result of an Israeli airstrike in Khan Yunis. Israel has not confirmed their deaths, but has expressed "grave" concerns about their status. On 19 February, the IDF presented the relatives of the Bibas family a video showing Shiri and the children while they were still alive several days after the abduction. The video was apparently filmed in southern Gaza. The Bibas family is slated to be released during the first phase on the 2025 hostage deal.