[ad_1] The youngest Israeli hostage held by Hamas, his four-year-old brother and their mother were killed by Israeli bombing on the Gaza Strip, the
[ad_1]
The youngest Israeli hostage held by Hamas, his four-year-old brother and their mother were killed by Israeli bombing on the Gaza Strip, the terror group’s military arm said on Wednesday without evidence.
Israel said it’s looking into the Al Qassam Brigades’ Telegram announcement about the deaths of 10-month-old Kfir Bibas, four-year-old Ariel and 32-year-old Shiri Silverman-Bibas, the NY Post reports.
“The terrorist organisation Hamas continues to act in a cruel and inhuman manner,” the IDF said in a statement.
“IDF representatives spoke with the members of the Bibas family, informed them of the claim, and are accompanying them at this time. The IDF is examining the reliability of the information. The responsibility for the safety of all the hostages in the Gaza Strip rests fully with the terrorist organisation Hamas. Hamas endangers the hostages, including nine children. Hamas is required to immediately return them to Israel.”
The three had been abducted along with patriarch Yarden from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, and the photogenic, red-headed youngsters, known affectionately as “The Reds”, had become something of a symbol of the terror attack’s brutality.
On Tuesday, Israeli officials announced that Hamas had handed the family over to another Palestinian faction and said they were being held in Khan Younis, a city in the southern Gaza Strip.
Despite repeated pleas from extended relatives and IDF officials, the Bibas family was not on the list of hostages expected to be released Wednesday, according to CNN.
Hamas has released 70 Israeli hostages and 30 hostages of other nationalities, out of a total of some 240, since a temporary truce was brokered last week.
Israel claimed on Tuesday that Hamas violated “the framework of the operational pause” by detonating explosives and opening fire on troops in two different locations in northern Gaza.
There were no immediate reports of shellings in Khan Younis.
Hamas had previously reported 77-year-old hostage Hannah Katzir to have been killed in captivity by an Israeli attack, but Ms Katzir was released last week, alive and well.
The Bibas children’s aunt, Ofri Bibas, on Tuesday called for the family to be released before the temporary ceasefire ended on Wednesday.
“We call upon the Israeli government and Qatar and Egypt, everybody who is involved in these negotiations and this deal, to do whatever they can to include our family in this deal and to release them as soon as possible,” Ms Bibas told the Times of Israel.
“I hope they don’t hold them as a trophy.”
Eylon Keshet, Kfir’s father’s cousin, asked reporters Tuesday, “Is baby Kfir the enemy of Hamas?”
This article originally appeared on NY Post and was reproduced with permission
[ad_2]
Source link
COMMENTS