Israel Defense Forces Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari revealed on Monday videos of Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas taken in Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip, just after they were kidnapped from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz during Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre.
“Seeing this young mother clutching her babies surrounded by a group of armed terrorists is horrifying. But it is also a call to action: That we must bring the hostages home,” said Hagari.
“We are very concerned about the condition and safety of Shiri and the children, and are making every effort to obtain more information about their fate,” he added.
Hagari said the videos were taken at a terrorist outpost belonging to the Mujahideen Brigades.
“Those who have the audacity to question our need to operate in Gaza but don’t have decency—the basic decency and humanity—to release the hostages, first of all, they all should take a good look at this terrified mother, Shiri, clutching her babies. Until Hamas releases our hostages, we will leave no stone unturned,” added Hagari.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a video statement on Monday, saying, “The video of the Bibas family in Gaza is heart-wrenching, and reminds us whom we are dealing with.
“We will bring these kidnappers of babies and mothers to justice. They won’t get away with it,” he added.
In November, the “military” wing of Hamas announced the deaths of then-10-month-old Kfir, his brother Ariel, 4, and his mother, Shiri, 32.
In response, the IDF said only that it was “assessing the accuracy of the information.”
Shortly thereafter, Hamas released a propaganda video showing father Yarden Bibas, 34, who was also abducted on Oct. 7 and remains in Gaza, seemingly confirming that his family had been killed.
The IDF denounced the propaganda video as “psychological terror.”
Netanyahu on Sunday urged the international community to increase pressure on Qatar to bring about the release of the remaining 134 hostages held in Gaza.
“Qatar can press Hamas as no one else can. They host Hamas leaders. Hamas is dependent on them financially,” Netanyahu said in an address to representatives of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations visiting Jerusalem.
The remarks come as weeks-long, on-again off-again American-backed hostage negotiations through Qatari and Egyptian intermediaries have stalled over Hamas demands. About 100 of the captives are believed to be alive.
Qatar—home to a major U.S. military base—hosts Hamas leaders in luxurious exile and, with past Israeli accord, has long funded the terrorist group in Gaza.
“The release of hostages can be achieved through strong military action and tough negotiations—very tough negotiations. That tough position has to involve the exertion of pressure,” Netanyahu insisted on Sunday. “And the exertion of pressure is not merely on Hamas itself, but on those who can exert pressure on Hamas, beginning with Qatar.”
If the remaining hostages are not freed before Ramadan, which starts on the evening of March 10, the IDF campaign against the terror group will continue, including in the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, Minister-without-Porfolio Benny Gantz, who serves on the war cabinet, pledged on Sunday.
“Let me be clear; we are operating in Gaza not out of revenge for Oct. 7 but out of a clear conviction to secure our future—the future of Israel’s next generations. We will continue fighting, in any scenario, until we achieve our goals,” he emphasized.
Two Israeli hostages, Fernando Simon Marman, 60, and Louis Har, 70, were rescued in a daring military operation in Rafah on Feb. 11.