HAMAS MOVES BABY HOSTAGE AND FAMILY
Kin of kidnapped call it 'psychological torture'
A 10-month-old Israeli boy, the youngest hostage captured by Hamas, and his family have been handed off to another Palestinian terror group — and their relatives are calling the move “just more psychological torture” and say they fear that the children are being held as a “trophy.”
An Arabic spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces, Avichay Adraee, revealed Monday night that the Bibas family — including infant Kfir, his 4-year-old brother, Ariel, and their parents, Yarden and Shiri Bibas — were being held captive in the southern city of Khan Younis by another Palestinian faction.
The Bibas boys were not slated to be freed on Tuesday amid the ongoing hostage release over the last several days.
But Ofri Bibas, the sister of Yarden and the aunt of Kfir and
Ariel, renewed her pleas for the family to be freed in the next exnightmare,” change.
“We’re talking to you today because tomorrow is the last day of the current cease-fire,” she said, according to The Times of Israel. “At the moment they are the youngest hostages still remaining in Hamas captivity.”
‘Kept underground’
“We don’t know where they’ve been held,” Ofri continued. “From what we know, they are kept underground. We’re really worried about the 10-month-old baby with formula as the main diet.
“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.
“It’s working really well because the last four days have been a big she added. “I hope they don’t hold them as a trophy.”
Eylon Keshet, a cousin of Kfir’s father, asked reporters Tuesday, “Is baby Kfir the enemy of Hamas?”
“There is no precedent for something like this, for a baby who was kidnapped when he was 9 months old,” Keshet said.
Adraee made a public statement about the boys in what appeared to be a campaign to ramp up pressure on terror leaders to release them ahead of the end of the extended temporary truce Wednesday.
“In Hamas prison, infants under 1-year-old who have not seen the light of day for more than 50 days are detained,” Adraee wrote in a post to X.
“Hamas treats them as if they were spoils and sometimes hands them over to other terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip.
“For example, the Bibas family, the two red-haired children ‘The
Reds,’ who were kidnapped from their home in Nir Oz by a memHamas ber of the terrorist organization and are being held in the Khan Yunis area by one of the Palestinian factions,” he wrote.
Khan Younis — where the Bibases are reportedly being held — is expected to be targeted by Israeli attacks once the temporary cease-fire expires, the Telegraph reported, raising speculation that Hamas strategically transferred the infant to the city as a means to extend the truce.
Horrifying video
The four Bibas family members were among the more than 200 hostages taken by Hamas during the group’s deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
Video shared on social media showed kindergarten teacher Shiri Silberman-Bibas clutching her sons as the family was abducted.
The family was hunkering down in a safe room when the terrorists descended.
The children’s aunt, Noah Abrahams, described the latest development in the family’s captivity as “just more psychological torture.”
“We are experiencing moments of great uncertainty. The realization that we will not get the hug we wished for leaves us speechless,” the family said in a statement.
On Monday, Israel and Hamas agreed to extend their temporary truce for two more days.
Hamas noted that the extension will follow the rules previously laid out in the initial four-day deal, meaning that the terrorists will release at least 20 more hostages in exchange for the additional two days of peace.
Eleven hostages, including nine children as young as 3 years old, were released by Hamas on Monday.