At least eight remaining hostages are dead, Hamas tells Israel
At least eight remaining hostages are dead, Hamas tells Israel
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The family of the youngest hostages held in Gaza have said they are “holding on to hope” they are still alive after Hamas told Israel that eight of the 26 remaining hostages due to be released were dead. Shiri Bibas, her husband Yarden, and their two young sons, Ariel, five, and Kfir, two, were taken captive on Oct 7, but their fate remains unknown.
Hamas has not stated which of the hostages scheduled to be released under the first stage of the ceasefire agreement are alive. The family became symbolic of the attacks in 2023 after footage of a terrified Ms Bibas clutching her red-haired children in her arms during the onslaught circulated on social media.
Last year, the terror group claimed that Shiri, Ariel and Kfir had been killed in an Israeli air strike – an allegation Israel has not confirmed. The Bibas family said in a statement on Monday: “We said then and we say now, we hold on to hope and await their return. We await certainty regarding their condition.
“The list that Hamas passed on to Israel regarding the status of the kidnapped is not a list of names and does not change our position. Neither a list of names, a Hamas statement, nor any video of this or that kind – are certain for us.”. Over the weekend, the family said “our world came crashing down” after they saw that Shiri, Ariel and Kfir were not on the list to be freed on Saturday, despite the terms of the deal dictating that children and female captives would be released first.
