{"id":241773,"date":"2025-02-18T21:00:14","date_gmt":"2025-02-18T21:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/18\/bibas-children-symbols-of-hostage-crisis-to-come-home-dead-hamas-says\/"},"modified":"2025-02-18T21:00:14","modified_gmt":"2025-02-18T21:00:14","slug":"bibas-children-symbols-of-hostage-crisis-to-come-home-dead-hamas-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/18\/bibas-children-symbols-of-hostage-crisis-to-come-home-dead-hamas-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Bibas Children, Symbols of Hostage Crisis, to Come Home Dead, Hamas Says"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/18\/multimedia\/18israel-bibas-1-hflv\/18israel-bibas-1-hflv-facebookJumbo.jpg?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Bibas Children, Symbols of Hostage Crisis, to Come Home Dead, Hamas Says\" title=\"Bibas Children, Symbols of Hostage Crisis, to Come Home Dead, Hamas Says\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For more than a year, many Israelis and others around the world have anguished over the fates of a mother and her two young sons who were captured by gunmen and taken to Gaza during the Hamas-led assault of Oct. 7, 2023.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On Tuesday, hopes dissipated that the Israeli woman, Shiri Bibas, and her children would be returned alive when Hamas announced that it would hand over at least some of their bodies this week. Israeli officials later warned against disseminating \u201crumors\u201d regarding the hostages without extensively commenting on Hamas\u2019s statement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For many Israelis, the kidnapping of Ms. Bibas, her husband, Yarden, and their redheaded children \u2014 Ariel, who was 4 at the time, and Kfir, then not even 9 months old \u2014 epitomized the cruelty of the Hamas-led attack that prompted the 15-month war in Gaza. The family\u2019s capture became a rallying cry both for those who supported a deal to end the war and negotiate the hostages\u2019 speedy release, and for those who believed Israel should continue fighting until Hamas was destroyed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">News that Hamas would turn over the bodies, part of a series of negotiated exchanges in this phase of a cease-fire agreement, followed the release of 19 living Israeli hostages in recent weeks. If those releases lifted spirits in Israel, the report of the children\u2019s deaths left many in the country distraught.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Israel has not confirmed the deaths of the three Bibas family members, but the Israeli military said last month it was \u201cgravely concerned\u201d about them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Israel is expected to release Palestinian prisoners and detainees in exchange for the bodies.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Bibas was abducted separately to Gaza. He was seen in video footage being driven away with a bleeding head wound. Ms. Bibas\u2019s elderly parents were also killed in the Hamas-led attack.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The abduction of the Bibas family has been seared into the Israeli national psyche. The campaign for their release has featured orange balloons to symbolize the redheaded boys as well as references to Batman, a character beloved by the toddler Ariel.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In a video from the attack, Ms. Bibas could be seen desperately clutching her two sons while a Palestinian militant stood nearby. Wrapped in a blanket, she appeared terrified.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On Tuesday, the Bibas family said in a statement that Hamas\u2019s pledge to send home their bodies had sent them \u201cinto turmoil\u201d but that they were still awaiting further information. \u201cUntil we receive definitive confirmation, our journey is not over,\u201d the family said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Roughly 1,200 people were killed in the Hamas-led 2023 attack and more than 250 abducted, according to Israel. One of the hardest-hit communities was the Bibases\u2019 hometown, Nir Oz, roughly a quarter of whose 400 residents were either killed or taken hostage. Kfir was the youngest to be seized.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The attack prompted Israel to declare war on Hamas and invade Gaza in a military campaign that killed tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians and combatants and left much of the coastal enclave in ruins.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Bibas texted other family members throughout the attack from the fortified safe room where he had hidden with his wife and children. \u201cI love you all,\u201d Mr. Bibas wrote as Palestinian gunmen overran Nir Oz. He later sent a final missive: \u201cThey\u2019re coming in.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Hamas\u2019s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, put out a statement in November 2023 that Ms. Bibas and her two children had been killed in an Israeli airstrike. Fears about their fates grew when they were not among the other captive mothers and children released during a weeklong cease-fire that month.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Hamas later put out a propaganda video showing Mr. Bibas in captivity sobbing as he responded to the claim his family had been killed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A year ago, the Israeli military released footage from a security camera that it said showed Ms. Bibas and the children in Gaza on the day of their abduction being wrapped in a sheet and forced into a car. Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the chief spokesman for the Israeli military, said at the time that the captives had been taken to an outpost belonging to the Mujahedeen Brigades, a small armed group, in eastern Khan Younis, Gaza, and that they were then taken somewhere else.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Earlier this month, Mr. Bibas was released as part of the truce between Israel and Hamas that began in January. The agreement stipulates that Hamas release at least 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for more than 1,500 Palestinian prisoners over the deal\u2019s first phase, which, barring an extension, is set to expire in early March.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Israeli government said last month that Hamas had provided a list indicating that 25 of the 33 hostages were alive and that eight had been killed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cSadly, my family hasn\u2019t returned to me yet,\u201d Mr. Bibas said in a statement after his return to Israel. \u201cThey are still there. My light is still there, and as long as they\u2019re there, everything here is dark.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Eylon Keshet, Mr. Bibas\u2019s cousin, described Ariel <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/11\/22\/world\/middleeast\/gaza-israel-child-hostages-families.html\" title=\"\">in November<\/a> 2023 as a boy who loved being the center of attention and playing with toy tractors and cars. Kfir, he said, was a \u201cchill\u201d baby on formula who was just beginning to eat solid food.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe are still clinging to hope,\u201d Jimmy Miller, another relative, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=h8uG1REhKsA\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">said<\/a> in a radio interview this week. \u201cWe are hoping for tears of joy, rather than tears of sorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/18\/world\/middleeast\/bibas-bodies-death-hamas-israel-exchange.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For more than a year, many Israelis and others around the world have anguished over the fates of a mother and her two young sons who were captured by gunmen and taken to Gaza during the Hamas-led assault of Oct. 7, 2023. On Tuesday, hopes dissipated that the Israeli woman, Shiri Bibas, and her children [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":241774,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/18\/multimedia\/18israel-bibas-1-hflv\/18israel-bibas-1-hflv-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[179329,1388,734,169,32652,5552,148,8042,38,1742],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241773"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241773"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241773\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":241775,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241773\/revisions\/241775"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/241774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}