{"id":189359,"date":"2023-11-29T22:19:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-29T22:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/?p=189359"},"modified":"2023-11-29T22:19:00","modified_gmt":"2023-11-29T22:19:00","slug":"gazas-youngest-hostage-an-innocent-baby-lost-in-a-war-with-no-end","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/world-news\/gazas-youngest-hostage-an-innocent-baby-lost-in-a-war-with-no-end\/","title":{"rendered":"Gaza’s youngest hostage: an innocent baby \u2018lost\u2019 in a war with no end"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The youngest hostage in Gaza – just 10-months-old – is feared to have been killed in an Israeli air strike alongside his family.<\/p>\n

Terror group Hamas claimed baby Kfir Bibas, his four-year-old brother and their mother all died in an Israeli bombing raid before the six-day ceasefire – which was due to end last night. The baby boy and his family were kidnapped from their home in a southern Israeli kibbutz during Hamas\u2019s initial attacks back on October 7.<\/p>\n

Kfir\u2019s plight has been widely publicised after Israel claimed the baby had been handed to another terror group in southern Gaza, where Jerusalem planned to attack next. But shortly before the final release of more women and children hostages yesterday, Hamas announced that Kfir had in fact been killed in an earlier Israeli bombing, along with his older brother, Ariel, and their mother Shiri Silberman-Bibas, 30.<\/p>\n

The children\u2019s father Yarden, 34, was also taken hostage but was not mentioned in the statement and his fate last night remained unknown. But if proven to be correct, the death is likely to cause further pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.<\/p>\n

However, there was also widespread suspicion over the announcement of the deaths by Hamas\u2019 armed wing Al-Qassam Brigades, which provided no evidence of where or when the supposed strike may have occurred.<\/p>\n

Last night a spokesman for the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it was urgently investigating the claims. But the spokesman also branded Hamas \u2018cruel and inhuman\u2019, adding that Israeli authorities had spoken to the Bibas family about the claims, which were complicating last-minute negotiations to extend the expiring truce.<\/p>\n

If the alleged deaths prove to be true, they will cause widespread despair in Israel, with hopes having been raised that little Kfir would be returned home safely.<\/p>\n

The plight of the baby boy had become all the more poignant after horrifying footage emerged of Hamas terrorists dragging Shiri and her young family from their home in Nir Oz Kibbutz towards a waiting car.<\/p>\n

Video showed the sobbing mother clutching onto her two redheaded sons as they were kidnapped, with horrified neighbours screaming: \u201cShe has a baby.\u201d<\/p>\n

The family has not been heard from since but there were hopes that they would be released by Hamas as part of a prisoner exchange during the truce between Israel and the terrorist group.<\/p>\n

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However, while many youngsters and their mothers have been returned in the last six days of truce, there has been no word of Kfir and his family.<\/p>\n

And there was shock and anger yesterday when just hours before the ceasefire was due to end, Hamas said Kfir, Shiri and Ariel were all killed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza in the days before the truce was announced.<\/p>\n

If true, the deaths could provoke a devastating reaction from the Israeli military as the family were among the highest-profile civilian hostages still yet to be freed. Last night, an IDF spokesman confirmed that Israeli authorities had spoken to Kfir\u2019s family about the claims.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe terrorist organisation Hamas continues to act in a cruel and inhuman manner. IDF representatives spoke with the members of the Bibas family, informed them of the publication [of the claims] and are accompanying them at this time,\u201d the spokesman said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe IDF is examining the reliability of the information. The responsibility for the safety of all the abductees in the Gaza Strip lies fully with the terrorist organisation Hamas.\u201d<\/p>\n