Israel-Hamas war: Hamas releases video of Yarden Bibas after claiming Israel strike killed his family
Hamas has released a propaganda video appearing to show Yarden Bibas alive, a day after Hamas claimed his family was killed. Warning: Graphic
There are hopes Yarden Bibas may still be alive after an apparent appearance in a Hamas propaganda video a day after the terrorist group claimed his family was killed in an Israeli air strike.
Hamas’s armed wing on Thursday said that 10-month-old baby Kfir, his four-year-old brother Ariel and their mother Shiri, 32, had all been killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza.
In the video, the 34-year-old father is shown in tears as his captors tell him his family has been killed.
The family of four are among the highest-profile hostages seized in the Hamas attacks on southern Israel on October 7, with Kfir the youngest hostage taken by Hamas.
In a statement, Israel’s army said it was “assessing the accuracy of the information” as no evidence had been provided.
The Sydney family of the Bibas said they are just trying to “stay sane” while they await more information.
Mr Bibas’ aunt Michal spent Thursday desperately trying to get information from relatives in Israel and the government.
“We have not had official word yet … we don’t know what is true and what isn’t,” Michal’s husband said at their north shore home.
HERO HOSTAGE GAVE HAMAS AN ‘ULTIMATUM’
Freed Israeli hostage Rimon Kirsht, who was hailed for giving Hamas terrorists an “iconic” death stare, tried to give her captors an ultimatum when they came to release her — telling them they needed to let go of her husband too or she’d stay in Gaza.
“When they told her she was being released, she didn’t want to go. She told them, ‘Either we leave together, or I stay here, and no one gets released,’” a family member of Kirsht told Israel Hayom, one day after she was released on the fifth day of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
Kirsht had been held in the Gaza Strip for 53 days with her husband, Yagev Buchshtab, the relative explained.
“She was with Yagev throughout the entire captivity. It was easier for them,” they said.
Their Hamas captors, however, refused to allow the couple to walk free side-by-side.
“Hamas terrorists told her, ‘You have two options: Either get released willingly or we’ll drag you on the floor.’ They didn’t leave her a choice,” the loved one lamented.
Kirsht was subsequently released alongside 11 other hostages — including Merav Tal, whom she was spotted putting her arm around moments after cocking her head and giving one of the Hamas terrorists a steely stare.
As of Thursday morning local time, Buchshtab, 34, remains in Hamas custody.
“He wanted to tell us that he loves us,” the couple’s relative told Israel Hayom of the message Kirsht brought back from her husband.
“She looks much skinnier than she was before she was captured,” they added of Kirsht’s condition.
“We are very happy and excited that our daughter-in-law is back. That she is finally home. We believe that Yagev will also return soon. Everyone will return home,” they said.
FINAL DEATH STARE
Kirsht was hailed “a hero” after giving one of her Hamas captors a final death stare before her release.
The 36-year-old was freed on Tuesday as part of the extended ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel.
Cameras caught the moment she stared down one of the armed terrorists before tilting her head and walking away with her arm around fellow hostage Merav Tal.
She quickly became a social media sensation with one user labelling the moment “iconic”.
Screenwriter Lee Kern commented: “Look at this Israeli hero giving defiance to a masked Hamas terrorist with a machine gun.”
Kirscht was kidnapped with her husband, Yagev Buchshtab, 34, from Kibbutz Nirim.
She was among the three hostages filmed in a video by Hamas chastising Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 23 days into their captivity.
The women accused Netanyahu of “political and national neglect” and of “screwing up” October 7, but the prime minister slammed the Hamas video as “cruel psychological propaganda.”
‘THEY’RE MONSTERS’: CHILD HOSTAGES TORTURED
Locked in a room alone for more than two weeks, beaten at gunpoint and forced to watch bodycam footage of Hamas’ bloody rampage, this is how children kidnapped by Hamas were tortured before their release.
Relatives of three Israeli children have given the first glimpse of life in captivity for some of the dozens of children snatched from Israel last month.
The revelations came as Israel has warned the public should ignore a “thank you” letter purportedly written by kidnapped but now freed mother Danielle Aloni that praised the militants’ “humanity” that was most likely written under duress.
Deborah Cohen, the aunt of 12-year-old former Israeli-French dual national hostage Eitan Yahalomi, told French media how he was threatened at gunpoint if he or others cried or were not quiet with the boy forced to watch the harrowing bodycam and iPhone footage of Hamas’ October 7 atrocities.
When he was first brought to Gaza, she said “all the civilians beat him”.
“We’re talking about a 12-year-old child,” she said.
“I wanted to hope that he was treated well but it turns out he wasn’t, they’re monsters. Now that I know this I’m worried. His father is still there, and there are 160 people who have not yet returned.”
Eitan’s grandmother Esther Yahalomi added for the first 16 days of his capture he was kept alone in a room.
“Those were very, very difficult days … just imagine what he went through in there. It’s hard for me to talk about it,” she said.
Eitan’s mother and sister escaped capture but his father Ohad was wounded and remains a hostage.
Two other child hostages released this week were still talking in a whisper, after 50 days in captivity having been conditioned to keep largely silent.
Thomas Hand said he has to put his ear to the mouth of his nine-year-old daughter Emily to hear her speak.
“She’s coming out slowly, little by little,” he said, adding she believed she had been held captive for a year. “We’ll only know what she really went through as she opens up. I want to know so much information … but you have to let them, when they are ready, come out with it.”
Meanwhile, Hamas posted Ms Aloni’s letter on social media, after she and her five-year-old daughter Emilia were released after 49 days as hostages.
“I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your extraordinary humanity shown towards my daughter, Emilia,” she reportedly wrote.
“Children should not be in captivity, but thanks to you and other kind people we met along the way, my daughter felt like a queen in Gaza.
“In the long journey we have been on, we have not met anyone who has not been kind to her, you have treated her with kindness and compassion.”
She added: “I will remember your kind behaviour shown in spite of the difficult situation you faced and the severe losses you suffered here in Gaza.”
It was not clear if the letter, written on her release, was made under duress.
Her cousin, Liam Adam, dismissed its contents.
“Hamas just published more propaganda of my family,” he wrote on Instagram.
He added: “Unfortunately I know many out there will try to use this in Hamas’ defence. Don’t believe them!”
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Originally published as Israel-Hamas war: Hamas releases video of Yarden Bibas after claiming Israel strike killed his family
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