FEARS are growing for the fate of Israeli brothers Kfir and Ariel Bibas after Hamas announced that their dad will be among three hostages released tomorrow.
The terror group confirmed that Yarden Bibas, Ofer Kalderon, and American-Israeli Keith Samuel Siegel will be freed as part of the fragile ceasefire deal with Israel.
Pixel8000Yarden Bibas (left) is set to be freed tomorrow but there’s still no sign on whether his children Ariel and Kfir will be released[/caption]
Pixel8000Kfir Bibas is the youngest Israeli hostage as he was taken at just 10 months old[/caption]
The boys were last seen wrapped int their mum’s arms as the frightened family was taken hostage by Hamas terroristsIan Whittaker
Ian WhittakerYarden was reportedly held in a different location than his wife and sons[/caption]
But the omission of Kfir, aged two, and Ariel, five, has deepened anxiety over their fate.
The boys were kidnapped alongside their parents from Kibbutz Nir Oz during Hamas’ October 7 bloodbath.
Their mum, Shiri Bibas, and the children were last seen alive in a video being marched through Gaza by gunmen.
In November, Hamas claimed Shiri and her sons had been killed in an Israeli airstrike — a statement Israel’s military said it could not verify at the time.
Now, with Yarden Bibas set to be freed, there are mounting concerns over whether Hamas’ earlier claim was true.
“Not knowing is so hard that sometimes I just want to scream,” Kfir Bibas’ aunt, Ofri Bibas-Levy, told NBC News earlier this week.
“Just tell me, even if it’s the worst thing.”
The Bibas children are the only known Israeli minors still unaccounted for in Gaza.
Their dad, Yarden, was reportedly separated from his wife and sons and held in a different location.
Families of the hostages have been gathering at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, fearing the worst but still clinging to hope.
“We know [the ceasefire deal] will bring us some kind of certainty, but we are very scared as well,” Ofri Bibas-Levy said.
“It could be a good certainty or a bad one.”
Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said earlier this month that the IDF is “very concerned and worried” about the condition of the Bibas children and their mother.
Baby Kfir turned two in captivity just days ago.
Across Israel, posters of the red-haired toddler clutching his pink elephant have become a painful symbol of the hostage crisis.
The other two hostages set to be freed, Ofer Kalderon and Keith Samuel Siegel, have also endured months of captivity.
US native Keith Seigel is also marked for release tomorrowAP
The third name released by Hamas is that of Ofer Calderon, who was taken hostage on October 7
Kalderon, 54, was abducted from Nir Oz alongside his two children, Sahar, 16, and Erez, 12.
His kids were released in November, but he remained in Hamas’ hands.
Siegel, an American-Israeli, was taken hostage along with his wife, Aviva, from their home in Kfar Aza.
Aviva was freed during a previous ceasefire.
It comes after Hamas released the third batch of seven hostages yesterday after keeping them in captivity for a harrowing 482 days.
Agam Berger, 20, Arbel Yehud, 29 and Gadi Mozes, 80, were all handed over alongside five foreign hostages after a sick 15-month long detention in the tunnels beneath Gaza.
Israeli soldier Agam Berger was the first to emerge on a stage at the handover point in Gaza on Thursday morning.
The 20-year-old, who spent her birthday still under Hamas’ claws, was seen holding what appears to be a certificate and waving at the crowds – as ordered by a terrorist filming her.
She then had a tearful reunion with her parents after being taken to an Israeli military base near Re’im.
Arbel and 80-year-old Gadi were handed over to Israeli forces in Gaza later on Thursday, the military confirmed.
They were both held by the military wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, marking the first time in the ceasefire that the terror group releases hostages in its custody.
Footage showed a terrified Arbel being escorted by terrorists struggling to go past an out-of-control mob of civilians, who tried to take selfies with the frightened hostage.
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