His 4-year-old brother Ariel and mother Shiri are also believed to be dead, according to Hamas. Nothing is known about the fate of father Yarden, who was also taken. He’s probably being held somewhere else.
Since the kidnapping, much attention has been paid to the fate of Kfir in Israel and abroad. There soon emerged images from his frightened mother, who is hugging Kfir and Ariel. The photo above, with his smiling face, is printed on posters all over Israel.
Since the kidnapping, Kfir’s family has tried to maintain attention by organizing demonstrations and giving interviews. Kfir’s age also plays a role. At 10 months old, he is the youngest of all the hostages. In this way he became a symbol for all hostages of Hamas. “A baby is the most innocent thing you can think of,” says peace negotiator Fleur Ravensbergen. “The injustice is very strong there.”
At the same time, she adds that many children and babies are also victims in Gaza. “There is also attention for that, but in the West we pay less attention to it.”
Artificial nutrition
When Israel and Hamas began exchanging hostages and prisoners a few days ago, relatives of the Bibas family hoped that mother Shiri would be released soon along with her children, since the children are still so young. “We are very concerned about the baby, who is still being fed formula,” said Ofri Bibas, the children’s aunt, earlier this week.
The Israeli army said on Monday that mother Shiri and her two children had been handed over by Hamas to another terror group in Gaza. That would complicate the chances of a quick release. Aunt Ofri said: “I hope they are not used as trophies.”
‘Victims of air strike’
But their names were always missing from the lists of released hostages. Family and friends came together on Tuesday to once again draw attention to the family. They released orange balloons, among other things. “These two young, little redheads have really captured the hearts of everyone in Israel and also the whole world,” Ofri told NBC News.
Hopes for release suffered a serious blow yesterday when Hamas suddenly published a message stating that Kfir, Ariel and mother Shiri were no longer alive. They are said to have been victims of an earlier Israeli airstrike.
Hamas deliberately states that Israel played a role in their deaths, says Ravensbergen. “Hamas is also actively trying to manage its image. They want to show that they are treating the hostages well. It is therefore important to say that the death of a baby was not the fault of Hamas, but was caused by Israel itself .”
‘Three bodies’
Concerns about the fate of the family increased further this morning after Hamas announced that in addition to releasing seven women and children, it also wanted to hand over three bodies of Israelis.
It is impossible to verify whether Hamas’s statements are correct. Misleading information has been released about hostages before, whether consciously or not. For example, Islamic Jihad indicated that a hostage had died, but he ultimately turned out to be alive and has since been released.
Benny Gantz, one of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s cabinet ministers, said Hamas may be releasing the messages as part of psychological warfare.
2023-11-30 17:28:45
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