The father of the youngest hostages taken on October 7 is being released to Israel tomorrow, Hamas said, without offering any update on his missing children and wife.
Yarden Bibas is the father of baby Kfir, only nine months old when he was kidnapped, and Ariel, who was four at the time of the attack.
There was no word on the fate of Kfir and Ariel, or on their mother Shiri, who was taken at the same time.
Hamas said in late 2023 that they had been killed by Israeli bombardment, but Israel has not officially confirmed their deaths.
Yarden will be released along with two others including a dual US citizen in the next exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners, according to Hamas.
Keith Siegel and Ofer Kalderon will be handed over on Saturday, Hamas armed wing spokesperson Abu Obeida said in a post on his Telegram channel.
Israeli-American Keith Siegel, who was taken hostage with his wife Aviva, was seen in a video released by Hamas last year.
His wife was released in the first hostage-for-prisoner exchange in November 2023.
Ofer Kalderon’s two children Erez and Sahar, abducted alongside him, were also released in the first exchange.
Hamas previously claimed that Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas were killed in an Israeli bombing.
Israel said it was assessing the claim in November 2023, but has so far not confirmed the mother and sons’ deaths.
Terror group Hamas released a horrific video at the time showing Yarden breaking down after being told that his wife and sons were dead.
Hamas did not offer proof to back up its claims and Israel’s Defence Forces blasted the sick video as ‘psychological terror’.
In a TV interview in June, then-Israeli minister Benny Gantz suggested that the government knew what had happened to the Bibas family, but that it could not provide details yet.
Israel has not officially confirmed the deaths of the two boys and their mother, but has expressed ‘grave concern’ for their fate.
There have been no proof-of-life videos shared of Shiri or her sons since their abduction on October 7, 2023.
Video of the mother and her two young boys being taken away by the terrorists was met with horror worldwide due to her visible distress.
Hamas said this week that only 25 of the 33 hostages it plans to release are still alive.
The 33 names on the list are women, the Bibas family children, men aged over 50, and unwell and injured men.
Israel has accused Hamas of ‘psychological terror’ for naming the hostages but not actually confirming whether they are alive.
Whether hostages were alive or dead inside Gaza has been a heartbreaking question for waiting families who have pushed Israel’s government to reach a deal to free them, fearing that time was running out.
Around 90 hostages are still being held, and Israeli authorities believe between a third and a half of them were killed in the initial attack or died in captivity.
An Israeli general revealed Monday that some of the hostages released from Gaza so far during the ceasefire had been held in Hamas tunnels for up to eight months straight, deprived of daylight and with little to no human contact.
Three Israeli civilians and four soldiers – all women – have been released so far in the ceasefire, and in return, Israel has released 290 Palestinian convicts and detainees.
‘Some of them told us that they’ve been in the past few months, that they’ve been through the entire time, in tunnels, underground,’ deputy chief of the Israeli military’s medical corps, Colonel Dr. Avi Banov, told journalists online.
‘Some of them were alone through the entire time they were there,’ he said.
‘Those who said they were together were in better shape.’
The hostages said their treatment improved in the days leading up to their release, Banov said, when they were allowed to shower, change their clothes and received better food.
They appeared to be in good condition and smiling in videos on the days of their release.
Citing the hostages’ privacy, Banov would not say whether any of the seven bore signs of torture or abuse.
Some had not received proper treatment for wounds sustained when they were captured during the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and some showed signs of ‘mild starvation’, Banov said.
The ceasefire reached earlier this month after more than a year of negotiations is aimed at ending the 15-month war, which was triggered by the initial 2023 Hamas attack, as well as freeing hostages still held in Gaza in return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
The first phase of the ceasefire runs until early March, but the second and far more difficult phase has yet to be negotiated.
Talks on phase two are set to begin next Monday.
Hamas has said it will not release the remaining hostages without an end to the war, while Israel has threatened to resume its offensive until Hamas is destroyed.
