During continued hostage negotiations to extend the cease-fire between Hamas and Israel, Hamas reported that a high-profile Israeli family being held hostage was killed during an Israeli airstrike. Reuters reports that they could not independently confirm the Hamas statement, and the deaths have not been confirmed by Israel. The hostages that allegedly were killed are brothers 10-month-old Kfir Bibas, four-year-old Ariel, their mother Shiri, and father Yarden.
The news comes as family members of the hostages had pleaded for their release, and hoped for their release during the ceasefire. Kfir was the youngest hostage taken by Hamas, being taken at nine months old from Nir Oz, a kibbutz attacked on October 7. Eylon Keshet, a family member, told reporters, “There is no precedent for something like this, for a baby who was kidnapped when he was nine months old.”
