'You'll Get A New Wife, Better Kids': Freed Israeli Hostage Who Lost Family Recalls Hamas Horror

Last Updated:March 31, 2025, 14:18 IST

Yarden Bibas, a freed Israeli hostage, revealed that his Hamas captors taunted him about his family's fate, only for him to later learn his wife and two young children were killed in captivity.

Hamas fighters escort Israeli hostage Yarden Bibas on a stage before handing him over to a Red Cross team in Khan Yunis on February 1, 2025 (Photo: AFP)

Yarden Bibas, one of the hostages released from Gaza captivity in early February, has revealed his captors used to taunt him over his family’s fate and told him he would get a new and better wife and better kids.

In his first media interview since being freed in a ceasefire last month, Yarden Bibas told CBS’ 60 Minutes on Sunday that he was held in Hamas’ underground tunnels, and defined the Israeli strikes as “terrifying".

“You’re afraid for your life," he said.

“Everything could collapse at any moment."

He said his captors, who had taunted him over his family’s fate, told him “You’ll get a new wife. New kids. Better wife. Better kids."

Bibas, upon his release, learnt that his wife and two young children were killed in captivity in Gaza.

Later, in a Facebook post, Bibas mentioned that Israel’s return to fighting brought him back to Gaza, where he feared for his life.

“Military pressure endangers hostages, an agreement brings them back," he said.

The bodies of Bibas’s two young children – Ariel and Kfir Bibas, were returned a day before their mother Shiri Bibas’s remains were returned by Hamas.

According to the Associated Press, Hamas said the three were killed in an Israeli airstrike, while Israel says forensic testing showed the boys were killed in captivity in November 2023.

While Ariel was four years old, Kfir was nine months old at the time of the abduction, making him the youngest captive taken by Hamas.

Kfir, the infant with red hair and a toothless smile, became a symbol across Israel for the feelings of helplessness and anger over the hostages’ captivity, AP stated.

As on March 17, an Israeli campaign to support Yarden had raised around $1.7 million in just 24 hours, after the grandfather of the children launched the ‘All for Yarden Bibas’ fundraiser, to help his 35-year-old son rebuild his life “physically, emotionally and financially", AFP reported.

Yarden buried his wife and children on February 26.

Hamas-led militants took 251 hostages during their October 7, 2023, attack that launched the war in Gaza.

Fifty-nine hostages remain in Gaza, roughly half of whom are believed to be dead. The others were released in previous agreements, rescued, or their bodies were recovered.

Israel’s military campaign has killed over 48,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were fighters but says more than half were women or children.

News world 'You'll Get A New Wife, Better Kids': Freed Israeli Hostage Who Lost Family Recalls Hamas Horror