For Kfir Bibas’ first birthday last year, supporters around the world gathered to wish for his return to Israel from captivity in Gaza. On this coming Saturday, his second birthday, that wish may be close to coming true.
Kfir, taken hostage with his brother and mother, was the youngest child abducted by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, when the terror group invaded Israel. He and his brother Ariel are the youngest hostages who remain there — the only children abducted who were not released during a temporary ceasefire in November 2023 — and at the time, Hamas said they had been killed along with their mother. Israel said it was investigating that claim but has not confirmed it.
Now, with Israel and Hamas reaching a deal for another ceasefire, their names are circulating as likely to be among the first to be released. Their family is also urging against speculation about their release and their condition.
The reports have stirred emotions among the many for whom the Bibas brothers have remained the starkest and most painful symbols of the hostage crisis.
There have been no signs of life for the brothers since the day of their abduction, when they and their mother, Shiri, became an early face of the violence after Hamas released footage of the family being taken hostage. After announcing their death in November 2023, Hamas released a hostage video showing Yarden, their father, who was abducted separately and had been told his family was dead.
Their relatives, like those of other hostages, have advocated forcefully in public demonstrations and behind the scenes for efforts to return their loved ones to Israel. Eli Bibas, Yarden’s father, spoke at a Tel Aviv rally in support of a hostage deal on Tuesday night, saying, “The nightmare that became our reality in the past year must end.”
Israelis mark the first birthday of Kfir Bibas in captivity of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, Jan. 18, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
In a statement on Wednesday, as it became clear that a deal was being finalized, the family urged against speculation.
“We are aware of the reports noting that all members of our family are included in the first stage of the agreement and that Shiri and the children are among the first to be released,” the statement said. “We have gained enough experience and disappointments and therefore there is no end to the story until our loved ones cross the border.”
The statement added, “We are waiting for certainty about their release and their conditions and are asking that no one reaches out to us in this sensitive time. We are asking not to lend a hand to spreading rumors. We address the prime minister and continue the demand to release them all, until the final hostage.”
Under the terms of the deal, 33 women, children and older and ill hostages will be released over the initial 42 days; Israeli officials have signaled that most but not all of them are alive. If the ceasefire holds, Israel and Hamas would begin negotiating toward the release of the 65 other hostages, younger men of whom some are living and some are dead.
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