- On Tuesday, Hamas announced the release of four dead Israeli hostages, including two children under the age of 5.
- Their father was released alive already, while their mother also perished in captivity.
- The ceasefire deal remains fraught with tension as Israel and Hamas push back on one another's terms.
On Tuesday, Hamas announced that it would release the bodies of four Israeli hostages — including their two youngest hostages, Kfir and Ariel Bibas, who were just 9 months and 4 years old when they were taken, per CNN.
Hamas militants kidnapped the children amid terror attacks launched in October 2023, when they killed 1,200 people and took another 251 hostage, plunging Israel and Hamas into a war that has now gone on for 500 days.
Their parents, Yarden and Shiri Bibas, were also been taken hostage by Hamas. Yarden was released alive on Feb. 1, according to the American Jewish Committee. Hamas has reported that Shiri died in captivity.
Status of Hamas and Israeli hostages
Hamas also announced that six living hostages would come home on Saturday.
“The Hostages and Missing Families Forum welcomes with profound joy the return of Eliya Cohen, Tal Shoham, Omer Shem Tov, Omer Wenkert, Hisham al-Sayed, and Avera Mengistu this Saturday,” reads a statement issued by the Hostage and Missing Families Forum, which has tracked the status of Israeli hostages taken in the Hamas-Israel war.
Tuesday also marked 500 days since Hamas first launched rockets from the Gaza Strip, sparking the long war that has seen thousands dead or taken captive.
The initial phase of the ceasefire deal began on Jan. 19, and included a 42-day truce and Hamas’ promise to release hostages while Israelis released prisoners, as the Deseret News previously reported.
The deal includes the release of seven hostages in the first week of the ceasefire, then three hostages every week, until 14 are released in the final week of the first phase.
State of the ceasefire
The peace wrought by the ceasefire deal continues to hang by a thread. Israel has called for Hamas to disarm as a condition of the ceasefire, which Hamas deemed “unacceptable,” per Al Jazeera.
Meanwhile, Hamas claims it wants to release all hostages in exchange for prisoners “in one go” during the second phase of the deal.
This week, as negotiations continue, Palestinians claim that Israeli troops are forcing Gazans out of their homes; United Nations advocates condemned Hamas for subjecting Israeli captives to a “degrading public display” last week; and Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu continued to affirm his support for Trump’s plan to resettle Gaza, per Daily Mail.
“Just as I have committed to, on the day after the war in Gaza, there will be neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority. I am committed to U.S. President Trump’s plan for the creation of a different Gaza,” he said on Monday.