Hamas has claimed Israel is refusing to take back the bodies of the Bibas family, including 10-month-old Kfir.
The terror group said in a statement, along with a heartbreaking video of father Yarden Bibas, shared to its Telegram channel: ‘The resistance offered to hand over the three bodies, but the occupation government refused to receive them and is still maneuvering and bargaining.’
Yarden, 34, was seen distraught and weeping as he said: ‘Bibi (Netanyahu) your airstrike took away my beloved family, now do what you can to bring them home so they can be buried at home.
‘I’m begging you, bring me, my wife and my children back home. Please, I’m begging.’
MailOnline is not publishing the video.
With his red hair and toothless smile, Kfir’s (pictured) harrowing ordeal has become for many a symbol of the brutality of Hamas’ attack on October 7
Yarden, 34, (pictured, centre) was seen distraught and weeping as he said: ‘Bibi (Netanyahu) your airstrike took away my beloved family, now do what you can to bring them home so they can be buried at home’
The world watched in horror on October 7 when footage emerged of Hamas terrorists dragging Shiri and her young family from their home in Nir Oz Kibbutz
The heartbreaking message comes after Hamas claimed yesterday that 10-month-old Kfir, four-year-old Ariel and their mother Shiri Silberman-Bibas, 30, were killed in an Israeli bombardment before Friday’s truce was announced.
The claim has not yet been independently verified, and IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said in response to the video of Yarden: ‘Hamas’ claims about the Bibas family are still unverified, the published documentation is psychological terrorism.’
The world watched in horror on October 7 when footage emerged of Hamas terrorists dragging Shiri and her young family from their home in Nir Oz Kibbutz towards a waiting motorbike.
Video showed the sobbing mother clutching onto Kfir and Ariel as they were kidnapped, as horrified neighbours screamed: ‘She has a baby.’
With his red hair and toothless smile, Kfir’s harrowing ordeal has become for many a symbol of the brutality of Hamas’ attack on October 7, which saw the terrorists massacre 1,200 Israelis inside their homes or as they tried to flee a music festival.
Shiri (pictured) is pictured playing with her baby Kfir. The pair were taken hostage by Hamas terrorists, who now claim – without providing evidence – they were killed in an Israeli airstrike
Ariel Bibas (pictured) is pictured here playing with bubbles. He was captured by Hamas terrorists on October 7
Hamas’ armed wing Al-Qassam Brigades claimed, without providing evidence, that Kfir, his mother Shiri Silberman-Bibas, 30, and four-year-old brother Ariel, were killed in an Israeli bombardment before the truce was announced
The IDF said on Tuesday that Hamas had handed custody of Kfir and his family to a separate terror group in Gaza’s second city, Khan Younis.
IDF spokesperson Colonel Avihai Adrei said at the time the ‘babies with the red hair’ were ‘now being held by one of the factions’ in the area around Khan Younis, Gaza, according to a message posted on X.
Yossi Schneider – Shiri’s cousin – told Israeli media: ‘It’s like our personal Schindler’s list. Every day we wait to see who will return and who won’t. This is like the list that chooses who will live and who will die.’
He questioned why Hamas had taken the 10-month-old baby and the four-year-old child in the first place, questioning what value they had as ‘bargaining chips’.
‘What were the Hamas terrorists exactly thinking of when they kidnapped them? What exactly were they afraid of? What did they think that Kfir could do to them?
‘They are passing him from hand to hand like an animal. I don’t understand it.’
John Kirby, the White House’s national security spokesperson, told reporters today: ‘We’re working on it literally by the hour to see if we can get this seventh day turned into an eighth and ninth and 10th and beyond.’
Hamas’ claims come as the seventh set of hostages are due to be released tonight after the precarious ceasefire deal was extended minutes before it was set to expire
Despite frantic efforts to extend the ceasefire from the international community, both Hamas and Israel have openly stressed that they are happy to carry on fighting.
‘There is no precedent for something like this, for a baby who was kidnapped when he was 9 months old,’ Eylon Keshet, Kfir’s father’s cousin, told reporters on Tuesday. ‘Is baby Kfir the enemy of Hamas?’
He said upon being told that the Bibas family had been moved to Khan Younis: ‘They have been sold like some kind of pet. What sort of people are they using a 10-month-old baby boy as an asset?
‘They’re using him like a chess piece or a Monopoly card.
‘The world needs to wake up and understand what’s happening. This [Hamas] is an evil organisation.
‘Hamas are playing with people’s lives. They’re not playing by the rules.
‘We haven’t seen our family for 55 days. Kfir hasn’t seen the light for 55 days. It’s crazy.
IDF chief of staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi (pictured, right) has ‘approved the attack plans for the continuation of the campaign’
‘We know what needs to be done, and are ready for the next step,’ Halevi said.
‘We’ve heard from the hostages who have come back that they don’t have any food, they have lice, they are not able to take a shower.
‘An adult could just about cope with this but can a child? Can a ten-month-old baby? I don’t think so.’
Hamas’ claims come as the seventh set of hostages are due to be released tonight after the precarious ceasefire deal was extended yet again at the eleventh hour.
Two hostages have so far been released, and at least eight more are expected to be set free in the coming hours.
John Kirby, the White House’s national security spokesperson, told reporters today: ‘We’re working on it literally by the hour to see if we can get this seventh day turned into an eighth and ninth and 10th and beyond.’
Despite frantic efforts to extend the ceasefire from the international community, both Hamas and Israel have openly stressed that they are happy to carry on fighting.
Hamas’ armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, told its forces to ‘maintain high combat readiness in the last hours of the truce’, while the IDF said its chief of staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi had ‘approved the attack plans for the continuation of the campaign’, and showed images of him inspecting maps with his commanders.
‘We know what needs to be done, and are ready for the next step,’ Halevi said.
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