By Anthony Blair | New York Post
Hamas’ youngest hostages, Kfir and Ariel Bibas, 2 and 5, and their mother are dead and their bodies will be returned to Israel this week, the terror group said in a ghoulish announcement Tuesday.
Kfir Bibas never celebrated a birthday in freedom after he and his family were kidnapped on Oct. 7, 2023, when he was just 9 months old.
Israel has not confirmed the deaths of the redheaded boys and their mom, Shiri, but said it had “grave concerns” about their wellbeing.
Kfir and Ariel’s father, Yarden, was released alive by Hamas earlier this month.
In a statement, the Bibas family said it was aware of Hamas’ claims.
“In the past few hours, we have been in turmoil following Hamas spokesperson’s announcement about the planned return of our Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir this Thursday as part of the hostages’ remains release phase,” the statement read.
“We want to make it clear that while we are aware of these reports, we have not yet received any official confirmation regarding this matter. Until we receive definitive confirmation, our journey is not over.”
The terror group’s leader in Gaza, Khalil Al Hayya, said the bodies of four hostages will be handed over on Thursday, while six living hostages, some held for over a decade, will be returned on Saturday.
The six to be released on Saturday are the last living hostages to be freed under the cease-fire’s first phase. Three had originally been expected to be freed.
Hamas has named two of the six Israelis set to be freed on Saturday as Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who were kidnapped in 2014 and 2015, respectively, after crossing into Gaza.
Israel has said both the hostages were suffering from mental health issues at the time.
It was not immediately clear why Hamas had changed the plan.
But an Israeli official told the Associated Press that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed to allow mobile homes and construction equipment into Gaza as residents begin to return to their homes and try to rebuild after 15 months of war.
Hamas last week threatened to hold up the release of hostages, citing the refusal to allow the supplies to come in, among other alleged violations of the cease-fire deal.
The hostage releases have come in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
The cease-fire that began in mid-January has brought a halt to the deadliest fighting ever between Israel and Hamas, surged aid into devastated Gaza, and allowed hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to return to their homes as Israeli forces withdrew from much of the territory.
Talks on beginning a second phase, under which all of the remaining living hostages would be freed and the war would be ended permanently, were due to start earlier this month.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said talks would begin “this week,” but added that his country would “not accept the continued presence of Hamas or any other terrorist organization in Gaza.”
The militant group quickly reasserted its control of the territory during the cease-fire despite losing leaders and many fighters.
Previously, Israelis were horrified by the sight of three emaciated hostages in an earlier release this month, and revelations about hostages being held alone, barefoot or in chains have increased the pressure on Netanyahu’s government to push ahead with the cease-fire’s next stage.
Families and others fear that time is running out — and the news about the Bibas family reinforced that once again.
With Post wires