Bodies of youngest Hamas hostages released

Hamas handed over the bodies of what it said were four Gaza hostages on February 20th, including the Israeli infant Kfir Bibas and his four-year-old brother Ariel, the youngest people to be taken captive in the attack of October 7th 2023, Asharq Al-Awsat via Reuters reported.

Following a forensic analysis, it was revealed that one of the four bodies, which was originally identified as their mother, Shiri Bibas, was in fact not the mother of the two boys, nor a hostage, ABC reported. But the body of Bibas, who was reportedly killed while in the hands of the proscribed terror group, was later returned on the evening of February 21st.

Kfir Bibas was just nine months old when the Bibas family was kidnapped at Kibbutz Nir Oz.

Hamas handed the four bodies over in its notorious fashion, according to NBC News, parading four black caskets on a stage against a backdrop of propaganda slogans and behind white missiles spattered with red paint bearing the phrase “they were killed by USA bombs.”

Daniel Hagari, an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman said “forensic findings” have indicated that the infants had been killed with “bare hands.”  Shortly after Israeli media outlets and activists expressed their sympathies and outrage at the death of the two boys, members of the Bibas family released a statement asking media outlets and channels to stop reporting on the deaths until “all identification procedures are completed.”

Argentine President Javier Milei declared two days of mourning in Argentina for the Bibas brothers, who held Argentinian citizenship.

In reference to the release of the hostages, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said In a short video statement that this marks “a very difficult day for the state of Israel. An upsetting day, a day of grief.”

Asharq Al-Awsat, Reuters, NBC News, BBC, The Times of Israel, ABC