Israel assessing Hamas claim youngest hostage and family members are dead
(CNN) — The Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday it was assessing a Hamas claim that the youngest Israeli hostage, 10-month-old Kfir Bibas, his brother and his mother are dead.
Posted — UpdatedThe armed wing of Hamas said earlier Wednesday, without providing evidence, that Kfir, his 4-year-old brother, Ariel, and their mother, Shiri, were killed in an Israeli airstrike. The armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, said they had been killed in earlier Israeli bombing.
The IDF responded with a statement saying they were “assessing the accuracy of the information.” It said they had spoken to the relatives of the Bibas family and “are with them at this difficult time.”
“Hamas is wholly responsible for the security of all hostages in the Gaza Strip. Hamas must be held accountable. Hamas’ actions continue to endanger the hostages, which include nine children. Hamas must immediately release our hostages,” the IDF said.
Minutes after the Hamas claim emerged, a senior Israeli official who was holding a briefing at the time said “I hope it’s not true,” and “we have no indication they’re murdered.”
IDF chief spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said earlier in the week that the IDF did not believe the boys and their mother were in the hands of Hamas.
There has been no Israeli bombing of Gaza since a ceasefire began on Friday morning.
Kfir, Ariel and Shiri Bibas, and presumably their father Yarden were all kidnapped from Nir Oz, an Israeli kibbutz that was devastated when it came under attack by Hamas militants on October 7. The attackers murdered more than a quarter of the community and seized scores of others, as they fired at people’s homes, looted and destroyed what they could.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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