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Hamas’ armed wing announced on Wednesday the death of this baby, the youngest of the hostages held in Gaza. The Israeli army says it is “verifying” this information.
Published on November 29, 2023 6:51 p.m
Reading time: 3 minutes
A protester carries a sign with the photo of Kfir Bibas during a rally to demand his release, November 16, 2023 in Modiin, Israel. (MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP)
Since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began, 60 hostages have been gradually released by the Palestinian terrorist movement. Women and children, but not Kfir Bibas, a 10-month-old Israeli baby who was kidnapped on October 7 and has become a symbol of the hostages still held. On Wednesday, November 29, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ armed wing, asserted in a press release that Kfir Bibas, his brother and his mother had been killed in an Israeli bombardment. Information that has not been confirmed: The Israeli army said on Wednesday that it was “verifying” it. The Bibas family said in a press release that they were “awaiting the verification of this information in the hope that it will be denied by the army.”
Kfir was kidnapped with his family on October 7th
Kfir Bibas was kidnapped during the October 7 attack by Hamas at Kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel. He was 9 months old at the time. Her four-year-old brother Ariel, father Yarden and mother Shiri were kidnapped on the same day. Video filmed during the kidnapping and posted on social media shows an apparently frightened mother, Shiri, holding her children in a blanket as Hamas terrorists surround them. Shiri’s parents, Margit and Yosi Silberman, also residents of Nir Oz, were killed in the attack. In other images from October 7, we see Kfir and Ariel’s head-injured father surrounded by a group of men who are taking him towards the Gaza Strip. The AP news agency noted that the family has since received no evidence that Kfir is still alive.
Together with his brother and mother, he became a symbol of the hostages
Kfir Bibas is the youngest of the hostages kidnapped on October 7th. He has become one of the iconic faces of the hostages held by Hamas, on social media and on signs at demonstrations calling for the hostages’ release. On Tuesday, November 28th, a demonstration was held in Tel Aviv at “Hostage Square” attended by family members. “Hamas took her, and now Hamas has to bring her back,” Ofri Bibas Levy, Kfir’s aunt, said at the rally. “They are responsible for their health and their freedom is squarely in the hands of Hamas. Hamas.” “It’s never happened before that a baby of this age was kidnapped. Is little Kfir an enemy of Hamas?” asked Eylon Keshet, a cousin of Kfir’s father, quoted by AP.
Kfir was handed over to another terrorist group
According to Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari, quoted by American broadcaster CNN, the Bibas family is no longer in the hands of Hamas. A representative of Israeli diplomacy He pointed the finger at the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a movement considered terrorist by the European Union, the United States and Israel. But nothing officially confirms that it is the PFLP. According to an Arabic-speaking Israeli army spokesman, Avichai Adraee, quoted by the Times of Israel, the Bibas family was “transferred” by Hamas to “another Palestinian group” in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, without further details to be mentioned on the day of this transmission.
In France, a controversy arose over an alleged closeness between the PFLP and La France insoumise. Some even went so far as to urge LFI to use its connections to get clearance. Originally an initiative of LFI MP Ersilia Soudais, who invited Mariam Abou Daqqa, Palestinian PFLP activist, to the screening of a film in the National Assembly on November 9th. Party coordinator Manuel Bompard defended himself against any closeness on BFMTV on Wednesday: “We don’t know the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, we have never worked with them.” He said that “the actions that this organization has committed are terrorist.”