Hamas has said for many months now that the remaining Bibas family – mother Shiri, toddler Ariel, and baby Kfir – are dead.

Now, Hamas is saying that they will hand over bodies of dead hostages this Thursday, and that the Bibas family will be among the dead.

Hamas’ youngest hostages, Kfir and Ariel Bibas, 2 and 5, and their mother are dead and their bodies will be returned to Israel this week, the terror group said in a ghoulish announcement on Tuesday.

The terror group’s leader in Gaza, Khalil Al Hayya, said that the four bodies of hostages will be handed over on Thursday, while six living hostages, some held for over a decade, will be returned on Saturday.

The six to be released on Saturday are the last living hostages to be freed under the ceasefire’s first phase. Three had originally been expected to be freed.

It was not immediately clear why Hamas had changed the plan.

If you have forgotten the story of the Bibas family, here is a quick refresher – and remember that husband and father Yarden was released on February 1st, with no mention of where his wife and children were.

I have a theory as to why Hamas has changed the plan for the Phase One release. They reported the Bibas mother and children were killed back in November 2023, and filmed father Yarden as they informed him of that fact in an act of sadistic cruelty. But because Hamas has lied about the status of hostages before, and because the International Red Cross has been absolutely useless (unless Hamas needs an Uber service to take hostages out of Gaza, but don’t tell them that because it hurts their feelings), there was no way to confirm their status. All anyone knew was that they were abducted alive.

This video was released by the IDF one year ago. It's security footage from October 7 showing Shiri Bibas and her young children, Ariel and Kfir, after they were abducted alive to Khan Yunis, Gaza.

They were abducted ALIVE. pic.twitter.com/2r1pQPISzo

— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) February 18, 2025

So why release the bodies now, and unleash the fury and grief of an entire nation, not to mention the world, by confirming that this innocent family is dead at your hands? Because Hamas still has living hostages to hand over. And so long as they have living hostages, they can get the handover of the Bibas family done and move on to Phase Two of the negotiated ceasefire deal. They are hoping that by the time they run out of living hostages, that initial wave of outrage and horror will have run its course.

I’m not sure that’s what will happen.

Fucking vile.

When the last hostages or their bodies are out, unleash hell https://t.co/I2ZeKXXkp1

— Sunny (@sunnyright) February 18, 2025

The Bibas children have become the most recognizable of the hostages, and Hamas has tried to blame Israel for their deaths in the past. The bottom line remains, though, that Hamas had custody of them, and they are the ones who will end up handing over their bodies, if they are indeed dead.

The Bibas family has been holding their breath for months at this point, and until there is evidence in hand, they simply do not have answers or closure.

The Bibas family:

"In the past few hours, we have been in turmoil following Hamas spokesperson's announcement about the planned return of our Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir this Thursday as part of the hostages' remains release phase.

We want to make it clear that while we are aware of…

— Israel War Room (@IsraelWarRoom) February 18, 2025

The full statement reads:

“In the past few hours, we have been in turmoil following Hamas spokesperson’s announcement about the planned return of our Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir this Thursday as part of the hostages’ remains release phase.

We want to make it clear that while we are aware of these reports, we have not yet received any official confirmation regarding this matter.
Until we receive definitive confirmation, our journey is not over.

We ask the media and the public to respect our privacy and refrain from contacting us about this matter.”

An additional statement confirms that they have been informed that Shiri and the children are listed as deceased.

The names of the six hostages that will be released Saturday have now been announced. Two of them have been hostages of Hamas for YEARS at this point.

After a fight with his mother on Sept. 7, 2014, Avera Mengistu left his family home in Ashkelon, Israel, and never returned. Video evidence viewed by the family shows that Mengistu entered Gaza by crossing a fence that night, according to Human Rights Watch.

He crossed into Gaza in full view of Israeli soldiers who didn’t stop him. Once in Gaza, he was taken captive by Hamas.

The night he left, Mengistu was in an emotional state, his brother said. He had been suffering from a decline in his mental health since the death of his brother, Masrashau, in 2011 and had been hospitalized and on medications.

The other hostage, Hisham al-Sayed – a Bedouin Israeli citizen – was kidnapped by Hamas in 2015. Now, both will be released on Saturday. Is their release going to be leverage enough to dampen the outrage over Ariel and Kfir, and an additional four murdered hostages that are scheduled to be returned next week? That seems to be what Hamas is betting on. These six living hostages may be the end of the Phase One deal, but negotiations for Phase Two will now begin this week.

Israel keeps warning Hamas, directly and indirectly, that they “will not forget or forgive.” If they are indeed confirmed dead, the fate of Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir will not just serve as a continual reminder of the brutality and evil of Hamas, but also be a motivator to eliminate every single one of them dressing up to party at hostage handovers.

Featured image: Collage/Brand X Studio; from screenshots