Hamas 'refuses to give youngest hostage back to Israel' and hands 10-month-old baby to separate terror group
28 November 2023, 07:21 | Updated: 28 November 2023, 08:34
A 10-month-old baby Kfir Bibas and his family have been handed over to a separate Palestinian terrorist group, the IDF has claimed.
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Kfir Bibas, the youngest hostage to be held by Hamas, and his family have been moved to the southern city of Khan Younis, an Israel Defense Forces spokesman said.
Khan Younis, the Gaza Strip's second city, is expected to be a target during Israel’s next offensive - raising questions that the baby is being used as a means to extend the truce.
Israel has claimed that Hamas no longer has control of 10-month-old Kfir and his brother, 4, who were kidnapped on October 7.
IDF spokesman Colonel Avihai Adrei claimed the “babies with the red hair” were “now being held by one of the factions” near Khan Younis.
An image captured of the children and their mother during the attack remains one of the most distinctive taken during the beginning of the war.
It is thought the pair are being held alongside their parents, Yarden, 34, and Shiri, 32.
Read more: Israel-Hamas ceasefire extended for two more days as three-year-olds freed in latest hostage release
A family statement said: “We are experiencing moments of great uncertainty. The realisation that we will not get the hug we wished for leaves us speechless.”
The exact group holding the family remains unknown, however, military analyst Michael Horowitz said”: “It appears they may be in the hands of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).”
The PFLP are a Marxist–Leninist terror group.
It comes after Israel and Hamas agreed to a 48-hour extension to the four-day truce agreed upon last week.
Israel warned Palestinians living in Khan Younis to evacuate over a week ago, suggesting it is expected to be among Israel’s targets when the truce ends.
“We're asking people to relocate. I know it's not easy for many of them, but we don't want to see civilians caught up in the crossfire,” Mark Regev, an adviser to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, previously said.
Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defence minister, said that he believed Hamas would use the temporary cease in fighting to prepare for the IDF’s offensive.
“We will fight in the entire strip,” he said.
A Hamas source said that 40 hostages were currently not under its control, CNN reported.
Israel and Hamas have been fighting for seven weeks, since Hamas launched its raids into southern Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 240 hostages back into Gaza. Some 14,800 Palestinians have been killed in the ensuing Israeli bombardment and ground invasion, Gaza health authorities have said, with hundreds of thousands more displaced.
The two sides called a four-day truce on Friday to release hostages and let aid into Gaza. The truce was extended until Wednesday on Monday.
Israel had been releasing three Palestinian prisoners per one hostage set free by Hamas.
A spokesperson for the terror group said the deal would continue along the same lines for the next two days.On Monday, three-year-old twins, Emma and Yuli Cunio, were released by Hamas, alongside nine others.
A total of 58 people, including 39 Israelis, have been released over the ceasefire's first three days.
