Kfir, Ariel Bibas, Not on List for Release as Cease-fire Approaches End
Bibas family urges Israel, Egypt, Qatar to do everything possible to bring them home
At an urgent press conference on Tuesday, the Bibas family expressed desperation as Shiri Bibas and her two redheaded sons Kfir, 10 months old, and Ariel, 4 years old, did not appear on the list of hostages to be released by Hamas later on that day. As the end of the agreed-upon cease-fire neared, the Bibas family urged all of the countries involved in the negotiations to do everything they could to get the boys released.
“All the children under 5 are already released,” said Offri Bibas, sister of Yarden, the father of the family who is also still in captivity. “The reason we are talking to you today is because tomorrow is the last day of the cease-fire,” she added.
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Reports on Monday said that the Bibas family is not being held by Hamas, but by another organization in the area of Khan Yunis in the central area of the Gaza Strip. Bibas said it is unknown where her family members are being held. However, she stressed that she hopes that the reason they are not being returned is because their location is unknown or difficult to reach, and not because Hamas is holding them because they “see them as a trophy.”
“We call upon the Israeli government, Qatar, Egypt, and everybody who is involved to do whatever they can to effect the release of Kfir and Ariel. The family fears that “another possibility is that not releasing them is part of Hamas’s “Psychological warfare against us.”
Bibas added that from the information about the hostages that were already released, no one has seen Shiri or the kids yet.
