Yarden Bibas, Shiri Bibas, Ariel Bibas and Kfir Bibas were among the 33 names listed to be released from Hamas captivity under the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire-hostage deal, which was confirmed to have been signed Friday.
The young family, abducted by invading terrorists from Kibbutz Nir Oz, has garnered wide coverage as sons Kfir and Ariel were the youngest civilians abducted by the Gaza-based terror group.
Kfir was 9 months old on October 7, when he was abducted, and is now a year and a half old – meaning he has spent the majority of his life as a hostage. Kfir’s brother Ariel was four years old when Hamas abducted him but, after over a year in captivity, is now over five years old.
Hamas’s al-Qassam Brigade claimed in November 2023, that the two brothers along with then-32-year-old mother Shiri Bibas had been killed.
The IDF has yet to establish if the family is alive, as Hamas and its terrorist ally, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, have made false claims about the status of other hostages in the past. Hamas previously claimed that Hannah Katzir was killed, although she was subsequently released alive as part of the November deal.
The family’s abduction to Gaza
The IDF was able to confirm, after securing footage, that Shiri and her two sons were taken to Gaza alive. After being taken to Khan Yunis on October 7, they were detained by a terror group by the name of Kataib Mujahadin.
Following the footage release, the family said in a statement, “These videos tear our hearts out. Witnessing Shiri, Yarden, Ariel and Kfir, ripped away from their home in Nir Oz into this hellscape, feels unbearable and inhumane.
“Kidnapping children is a crime against humanity and a war crime. Ariel and Kfir are victims of monstrous evil. Our whole family has become hostages along with all the hostages.”
Footage made public in April also shows that Yarden Bibas was alive when abducted, although bloodied from the terrorists’ attacks.
Despite the status of the family remaining unconfirmed, Dana Silberman-Sitton, the sister of Shiri Bibas, expressed doubts that the Bibas would be returned alive.
In an interview with KAN11 in October, Silberman-Sitton explained she told her daughter that the rumors of their relatives’ deaths were true. “Maybe I also didn’t want to delude myself to avoid disappointment,” she explained.
Eylon Keshet, the cousin of Yarden Bibas, also spoke of the family’s plight. In August, he told Campaign Against Antisemitism of the struggles he explained he was “on the verge of crying any minute…it feels like torture.”
The family has organized a number of campaigns to raise awareness of their loved ones, highlighting their now-infamous orange hair, love of Batman and ages. During these campaigns, a number of posters of the young boys were vandalized and torn down.
“How could you rip posters of Kfir and Ariel? And try to politicize it? What kind of monster do you have to be? What kind of ignorant [person] do you have to be to try to merge these issues together?” Keshet expressed.
The Prime Minister’s Office stated that the release of the hostage would be able to begin on Sunday, pending the cabinet’s approval of the deal.
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