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Last Updated:February 01, 2025, 18:56 IST
Shiri Bibas and her two small boys, Ariel and Kfir remain in Hamas captivity. Husband and father Yarden Bibas was released by Hamas on Saturday.
Released Israeli hostage Yarden Bibas, who was seized during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, embraces loved ones after release but there is no news on his wife Shiri and his two children. (IMAGE: REUTERS)
As visuals of freed Israeli hostage Yarden Bibas reuniting with his family streamed in on Saturday, the Israeli government and the hostage coordinators remained concerned about the fate of Bibas’ wife and two children.
Like Bibas, his wife Shiri and their two boys were seized by militants on October 7, 2023 during Hamas’s attack on Israel and taken to Gaza.
Israel earlier this week demanded ‘clarity and answers’ from Hamas on the condition of Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas.
Bibas’s sons — Kfir, the youngest hostage, whose second birthday fell in January, and his older brother Ariel, whose fifth birthday was in August — have become symbols of the hostages’ ordeal.
Hamas has previously declared that Shiri and the children were killed in an Israeli air strike in November 2023, but Israel has not confirmed their deaths.
Hamas has reported that 18 of the 26 remaining hostages are alive, but has not provided details on their condition. It also confirmed that eight hostages are dead.
Ariel and his brother Kfir are the only Israeli children hostages left in Gaza.
Israel stated it was investigating the “cruel" claim but did not confirm it. The IDF later clarified that it has no intelligence to verify the hostages’ status, Israeli news outlets reported.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to secure the release of the trio and said that his thoughts remain with them as he welcomed the release of the hostages by Hamas.
“Our thoughts remain with Shiri, Ariel and Kfir and all the hostages. We will continue to act to bring them all home," Netanyahu said.
Earlier in Gaza, hostages Ofer Kalderon and Yarden Bibas were paraded on stage by Hamas fighters before being handed over to the Red Cross in the southern city of Khan Yunis. American-Israeli Keith Siegel was freed shortly thereafter in a similar ceremony at Gaza City’s port in the north.
Israel’s military later confirmed that all three were back in Israel.
The deal stipulated that women and children should be freed first, with bodies to be handed over later. Concerns for the fate of the Bibas trio have intensified, as Hamas has not included them among the first hostages released.
Hamas broke the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release agreement by announcing the release of four female soldiers—Liri Albag, Naama Levy, Daniella Gilboa and Karina Ariev—despite the deal’s stipulation to prioritize civilian women and children.
Hamas released only one civilian woman, Arbel Yehoud, on Friday. IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said Hamas had violated the deal by not first freeing all female civilians as stipulated in the deal.
Location :Tel Aviv, Israel
First Published:February 01, 2025, 18:56 IST
News world Father Freed But Wife, Kids Captive: Israel Wants Clarity From Hamas On Shiri Bibas, Her Babies
