Bodies of youngest Israeli hostage Kfir Bibas and his brother and mother to be handed over as family ‘in turmoil’
18 February 2025, 16:26 | Updated: 18 February 2025, 17:49
Hamas says it will hand over the bodies of four hostages on Thursday, including the two youngest people held by the group.
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The group's negotiator Khalil al-Hayya said the bodies to be released would include those of the Bibas family - Shiri and her young children Kfir and Ariel.
Kfir and Ariel were aged nine months and four years when Hamas kidnapped them during the 7 October 2023 attack.
The children's father Yarden was released by Hamas earlier this month only to find out his family had reportedly died in an airstrike.
Al-Hayya said Hamas would also release six living hostages on Saturday, which is double the number originally planned.
In exchange, Israel will free all women and those under the age of 19 arrested since last October.
In a statement, al-Hayya said the group agreed "handing over four bodies of the occupation prisoners on Thursday 20 February, including the bodies of the Bibas family."
In a statement, the Bibas family said it was aware of the Hamas statement.
"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," the statement said.
"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.
Meanwhile, Israel has said negotiations on the second phase of the deal will "happen this week".
Foreign minister Gideon Saar said it would involve the country's remaining hostages being exchanged for more Palestinian prisoners.
"If we see there is a constructive dialogue with a possible horizon of getting to an agreement (then) we will make this timeframe work longer," Mr Saar said.
Israelis who survived being kidnapped during the 7 October attack have been released in small groups since the first six-week phase began last month.
Three more, Alexander Troufanov, Sagui Dekel Chen and Iair Horn, were freed last weekend meaning 19 Israeli hostages have been returned so far.
The swap included 369 Palestinians, the most released up until now.
