After Hamas sends list of living 1st-phase hostages, families updated if loved one believed dead — report

Some of the families of the hostages slated to be released in the ongoing first phase of the hostage deal have been informed that there is concern for their loved ones’ wellbeing, Hebrew media reports, after Hamas provided Israel with information on the status of the hostages late last night.

The list did not provide specifications regarding the status of each individual, and instead only included an overall number of captives who are still alive.

While the sparse information means that officials cannot definitively confirm the deaths of any of the captives, unnamed officials have said that the numbers match the intelligence Israel already had, and therefore bolster prior assessments regarding the status of certain hostages.

Reports have previously stated Israel believes 25 of the 33 hostages slated for release in the first phase are alive. With seven captives already released alive over the past week, this would mean that 18 of the remaining 26 hostages are alive while eight are dead.

Among those whose fates are unknown are Shiri Silberman Bibas, her husband Yarden Bibas and their two young sons Ariel and Kfir.

IDF Spokesman Daniel Hagari said on Saturday that there were “grave concerns” for their lives.

Speaking to the Kan public broadcaster amid reports that the families have been updated regarding the presumed status of their loved ones, Yarden’s sister Ofri Bibas says the family is still waiting to receive any concrete information, and that “there is no difference between what we knew yesterday and what we know today.”

“We have known that there is grave fear for their lives, since Hamas’s announcement at the end of the previous deal,” she says, referring to the terror group’s claim in November 2023 that Shiri, Ariel and Kfir had been killed.

She appeals for the public to withhold from spreading “false and unverified news,” and says her family “needs information to come to us from official sources, not from the media and WhatsApp groups.”