IDF: Captors murdered children Ariel and Kfir Bibas ‘in cold blood’ with ‘their bare hands’

The Israel Defense Forces said Friday that forensic examinations have revealed that Palestinian terrorists murdered children Ariel and Kfir Bibas “with their bare hands” weeks after their kidnapping on October 7, 2023.

“We can confirm that baby Kfir Bibas, just 10 months old, and his older brother Ariel, aged four, were both brutally murdered by terrorists while being held hostage in Gaza no later than November 2023. These two innocent children were taken hostage alive, along with their mother, Shiri, from their home on October 7, 2023,” IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a televised statement.

The IDF statement came hours after it was discovered that Hamas had not returned the body of the boys’ mother Shiri, sending instead the body of a Gazan woman and later claiming that there had been a mix-up with the bodies during an Israeli airstrike.

Hagari said the evidence clearly showed that they were not killed in an airstrike as Hamas claimed.

“Contrary to Hamas’s lies, Ariel and Kfir were not killed in an airstrike. Ariel and Kfir Bibas were murdered in cold blood by terrorists,” he said.

“The terrorists did not shoot the two young boys — they killed them with their bare hands. Afterward, they committed horrific acts to cover up these atrocities.”

“This assessment is based on both forensic findings from the identification process and intelligence that supports these findings. We have shared these findings, intelligence and forensics with our partners around the world so they can verify it,” said Hagari.

Hagari added that he spoke on Thursday with the children’s father, recently released hostage Yarden Bibas, who demanded that he tell the world what had happened:

“Yarden looked me in the eyes and asked that all the world know and be horrified by the manner in which they murdered his children.”

Said Hagari: “The entire world must know exactly how the Hamas terrorist organization operates. Ariel and Kfir were murdered, and then on Thursday, their bodies were returned in a cynical and cruel ceremony in Gaza. Shiri Bibas, who was meant to be returned with her children to Israel as part of the agreement, was not returned by Hamas. Hamas lied and violated the agreement.”

“The body that Hamas falsely claimed was Shiri’s was not hers, nor was it any other hostage. Instead, Hamas sent over the body of an anonymous woman. This is further evidence of Hamas’s barbaric cruelty.”

He said that Israel was demanding that Shiri Bibas be returned to Israel swiftly, “in accordance with the agreement,” and called the murder of the other hostages “crimes against humanity.”

‘Not asking for revenge now. Asking for Shiri’

Following the revelations, Yarden’s sister Ofri issued a statement eulogizing her nephews and demanding Shiri’s return.

“For Ariel and Kfir and for Yarden, we are not asking for revenge now. We are asking for Shiri,” said Ofri Bibas. “Hamas’s cruelty only underlines the need to immediately get Shiri back to us and save the lives of the living hostages, and get the fallen back for burial.”

She also said: “There can be no forgiving the abandonment of October 7, and no forgiving the abandonment [of those held] in captivity. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, we didn’t get an apology from you at this terrible moment.”

Later the Hostage Family Forum released a statement saying that it was horrified by the “barbaric” killings.

“We are shaken to the core by the horrifying findings confirming the cruel and brutal murder of Ariel and Kfir Bibas, just innocent infants,” the Forum said, adding that it it was another example of why all the hostages had to be brought home as soon as possible.

“The Bibas family, and all of us standing with them, have one message: Remember Ariel and Kfir. Let their memory be a call to action. The fight to bring every hostage home must not stop for a moment. This is a moment of moral clarity. The world must stand united in demanding their immediate return — before it is too late,” the statement said.

Hamas claims it is committed to the deal

Hamas, meanwhile, professed surprise at what it asserted was a mix-up over Shiri’s body.

In a statement, Hamas said it would  “examine these allegations very seriously” and announce the results of its investigation.

The Hamas statement reiterated its claim that there may have been an “error or mix up” in bodies found in the rubble of an Israeli airstrike, which it claimed killed Shiri Ariel and Kfir.

Hamas then called on Israel to return to Gaza the body of the Palestinian woman that it handed over in place of Shiri.

The terror group said it remains committed to implementing the current ceasefire-hostage release deal and vowed to uphold “all of our obligations,” claiming that it has no interest in holding on to any bodies of hostages.

The terror group also said it would proceed with the release of six live hostages on Saturday, saying it would release hostages Tal Shoham, Omer Shem-Tov, Eliya Cohen, Omer Wenkert, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed.

According to Hamas’s past statements, the six are the last of those to be returned under the first phase who are alive.

The families of the six were already notified by Israeli officials on Tuesday.

Al-Sayed and Mengistu have been captive in Gaza for over a decade, after entering the Strip of their own accord. The others were abducted on October 7, 2023.

Israel confirmed receiving the list.

In return, Israel will release 602 Palestinian security prisoners from jails on Saturday as part of the ongoing hostage release-ceasefire deal with Hamas.

Amani Sarahneh, a spokeswoman for the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club said those slated for release include 445 individuals from Gaza who were arrested after Hamas’s October 7 attack, 60 serving long sentences, 50 serving life sentences and 47 re-arrested after a 2011 exchange for captive IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.

On Thursday night, Hebrew media reported that seven of those who were slated to be released outside of Israel’s borders requested to instead remain in prison, and they were replaced with seven others from a list of those eligible.

Hamas is also due to release four more bodies next week, bringing an end to the first phase of the deal.

The second part of the three-stage deal calls for the release of all the remaining hostages, in exchange for a permanent end to the war and the release of more Palestinian security inmates. It is believed that some 24 living hostages would be released in the second phase.

The government has given conflicting statements about the future of the agreement, sometimes saying that it intends to proceed to the second phase, but at times opening the door to a return to fighting.

Sixty-seven of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 35 confirmed dead by the IDF.

Hamas has so far released 24 hostages — 14 Israeli civilians, five soldiers and five Thai nationals–— and the bodies of three Israeli captives during a ceasefire that began in January. The terror group freed 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November 2023, and four hostages were released before that.

Eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 40 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the Israeli military as they tried to escape their captors.

Hamas is also holding the body of an IDF soldier who was killed in 2014. The body of another IDF soldier, also killed in 2014, was recovered from Gaza in January.