“We fear for their lives,” said Daniel Hagari after the army showed images showing, according to him, Shiri Bibas, from behind and surrounded by seven armed men in the Gaza Strip, the day of their capture.
These images come from a street camera in Khan Younes, in the south of the Gaza Strip, he said.
🔴 “Certain elements in our possession fuel our fears regarding the fate of Shiri Bibas and her children”
Daniel Hagari, spokesperson for the Israeli army pic.twitter.com/goHPDNiNvf
— i24NEWS French (@i24NEWS_FR) February 19, 2024
Kfir Bibas, the youngest Israeli hostage held by Hamas, was less than nine months old when he was taken from his bed on October 7 in the Nir Oz kibbutz.
The Islamist movement announced in November the death of the baby, his brother and his mother, allegedly killed by an Israeli bombardment.
But Israeli authorities have not confirmed it.
“Victims of a monstrous evil”
In a statement released Monday, the Bibas family called on “decision makers, in Israel and around the world, involved in the negotiations (for their release) to bring them home now.”
“Kidnapping children is a crime against humanity and a war crime, Ariel and Kfir are the victims of a monstrous evil,” she added.
Hamas released a video of the children's father, Yarden Bibas, who was also kidnapped on October 7.
Nir Oz was the scene of one of the bloodiest attacks carried out on October 7 from the Gaza Strip by Hamas, which left more than 1,160 dead on the Israeli side, mainly civilians, according to an AFP count. based on official Israeli figures.
In retaliation, Israel vowed to "annihilate" Hamas, and more than 29,000 people, the vast majority of them women and children, were killed in the Gaza Strip by its bombings and military operations, according to the Ministry of Security. Health of Hamas.
More than 250 people were forcibly taken by Hamas and its allies on October 7, including more than 75 captured in Nir Oz.
Also read “They burned our souls”: the chilling testimony of a survivor of Kibbutz Nir Oz in Israel
The images filmed by Hamas and showing Shiri Bibas, her face twisted in terror in front of her captors, hugging her two red-haired children, have become the embodiment of the violence of the attack which traumatized Israelis.
Relatives of the family symbolically celebrated Kfir's first birthday on February 17.
According to Israeli authorities, 130 hostages are still in Gaza.
Among them, 30 died.