Family of Hamas’ youngest hostage Kfir Bibas ‘can’t bear to think about baby’ & say he ‘can’t be the same now’

THE heartbroken family of the youngest hostage snatched by Hamas – baby Kfir Bibas – have revealed they “can’t bear to think” about the one-year-old’s condition. ..Read Full Article

The family are all said to be still holding out hope the young child, who has spent over half of his life in captivity, is alive – despite Hamas claiming the boy has been killed.

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Tomer Keshet, a cousin of Kfir’s father, says the family wonder if the tot has ever learned to stand up or even started to walk.

A devastated Tomer, 34, said: “Kfir was so tiny. He could hardly stand. I can’t bear to think of him now.

“Perhaps he’s been kept in a crib all these months, not even allowed to crawl. He must be able to stand by now.’

Kfir was only eight months old when Hamas terrorists stormed Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7 in their cross-border bloodbath in Israel.

He can’t be the same baby now, kept in tunnels and dark places for such a long time

Tomer Keshet

Taking the child in a ruthless home invasion alongside 240 others kidnapped by the terror group and taken back to Gaza as captives.

Kfir, his four-year-old brother Ariel, their mother Shiri and father Yarden were all taken to the battered strip as harrowing videos caught the moment they were driven away.

Hamas later claimed Kfir, Ariel and Shiri were all killed in an Israeli revenge offensive, while their father, Yarden, survived.

The claim has since been unverified, with Tomer and many of his family and friends not giving up hope.

Rachel Riley pleads for safe return of one-year-old Israeli hostage Kfir Bibas

Speaking to the Daily Mail at an office near the Hostage Square memorial in Tel Aviv, Tomer said he fears Kfir “will be changed forever”.

“It’s horrific to think he has spent half his life in captivity.

“We love him so much. He is such a calm and relaxed baby who loves to be held. But he can’t be the same baby now, kept in tunnels and dark places for such a long time.”

He then slammed the Hamas terrorists who kidnapped the baby and called on the world to condemn the horrific behaviour and demand all the hostages are returned home.

He said: “Why doesn’t the entire world condemn this and demand they return home with their mother and father? If this horror doesn’t shake people and force them act, what will?”

Every time I hear my own children laugh, every time we sit down together for dinner, every time I change a diaper, I see Kfir

Tomer Keshet

A trembling Tomer says the haunting reminder of the agony Kfir must be going through stays with him every day even when he looks at his own children.

The desperate family man continued: “Every time I hear my own children laugh, every time we sit down together for dinner, every time I change a diaper, I see Kfir.

“Each passing day fills me with more fear.”

BABY KFIR’S TIMELINE

Hamas’s military wing has previously claimed that Kfir and her family Ariel and Shiri had been killed in an Israeli airstrike in November.

These claims were never verified and their fate has remained unknown since.

In February, Baby Kfir was seen alive in Gaza for the first time in a haunting video taken hours after his kidnap.

CCTV footage shared by the IDF shows the one-year-old, his brother Ariel and mum Shiri being taken by Hamas in eastern Khan Younis.

It was believed that the mother and her two children had been taken by a Palestinian group separate from Hamas, possibly the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

But their status plunged into doubt once more when Israel later attacked Khan Younis in its mission to wipe out Hamas.

One source of hope came from Nili Margalit, a hostage who spent 50 days in Hamas captivity before being released.

She revealed that she was with Yarden when Hamas told him his family had been killed.

Not long after their kidnap, it was feared that Kfir was being held captive as a “trophy” after Hamas allegedly traded him to other terrorists.

The baby boy’s aunt, Ofri Bibas, begged for his immediate release ahead of the last day of November’s ceasefire.

In December, baby Kfir was then meant to be released alongside his mum and brother before terrorists “decided not to do this”, the IDF said.

If Kfir is still alive, as millions hope, he will be one of only a handful of children thought to be still held hostage.

Israel says there are still around 100 hostages trapped in Gaza, alongside the bodies of 30 more.

The latest on the war in Gaza

On Friday, US President Joe Biden announced Israel has made an another attempt to come to a ceasefire agreement with Hamas that will aim to end the war.

The three-phase proposal will see the hostages all be freed in return for Palestinian prisoners as Israel withdrawls from Gaza as the fighting ends.

The final phase will look to rebuild Gaza after the devastation in the last eight months.

A spokesperson for Hamas has claimed they are “studying the proposal” but say they view the deal “positively”.

At the start of May, ceasefire talks broke down after Israel felt disrespected when Hamas announced an agreement had been made when it hadn’t been.

This prompted Netanyahu to launch a terrifying planned assault on the city of Rafah in an attempt to end the war by force.

The IDF is looking to seek and destroy any last remnants of Hamas so the war can be over.

Israel says the city is Hamas’ last major stronghold in the Gaza Strip.

They have been “eliminating terrorists” and “terrorist infrastructure” with hundreds of “terror targets” already being hit.

Repeated airstrikes have also been ongoing since the start of May with three “significant” tunnel shafts also being found.

Military tanks encircled the entire eastern half of the refugee-filled city as the planned assault started.

Israel was told to immediately cease its operation in Rafah by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

They said the humanitarian crisis in Rafah had “deteriorated further”, with the situation now “disastrous”.

Earlier this week, Israel blitzed a refugee camp in Rafah – killing at least 45 Palestinian civilians including small children.

The Hamas-run health ministry says 60 more people were injured.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has responded to widespread condemnation of the strike today by calling it “a tragic mistake”.

It came after Hamas launched a chilling barrage of rocket attacks on Israel for the first time in months, forcing civilians to flee their homes.

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