“Are they enemies of Hamas?”: mobilization in Israel to demand the release of two hostage children

The fate of the Bibas family is worrying. On October 7, during Hamas attacks on Israeli territory, Yarden and Shiri Bibas were kidnapped by the Islamist group in the Nir Oz kibbutz along with their two children, Ariel, 4 years old, and Kfir, 10 months old. Since then, thanks to a truce of several days, some sixty hostages held in Gaza have already been released, but no members of this family.

“Who can they harm?”

In Tel Aviv, in “hostage square,” where hundreds of Israelis gather every day to demand the release of hostages still held by Hamas, the Bibas family is on everyone’s minds. Posters with photographs of the children are distributed, as well as orange balloons, which recall the red color of the children’s hair.

“Are they someone’s enemies? Are they Hamas’s enemies? They are just children, just innocent people. Who can they harm? And yet they have been kidnapped,” said family member Eylon Keshet, holding photographs of the children. children. .

Among those present, many are those who are angry with international organizations, including Unicef ​​​​and the Red Cross. “Where are they? Why can’t we hear them? We haven’t even heard them, passivity is complicit,” Sonia Isreali, a resident of Ra’anana.

Where is the Bibas family?

Guest on BFMTV on Tuesday, Olivier Rafowicz, French-speaking spokesman for the Israeli army, stated that the two children kidnapped by Hamas were “transferred” to another Palestinian group in Gaza.

“Kfir and Ariel Bibas, aged 10 months and four years, would be in the hands of another terrorist group, according to the information we have. They would be in the hands of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP),” the spokesperson developed.

The PFLP is a Palestinian Marxist-Leninist nationalist group, considered “terrorist” by Israel, the EU and the United States. “Hamas would have transferred other hostages,” said Olivier Rafowicz.

Hamas has yet to confirm or deny this claim by the Israeli military. The new hostages, whose names have not been communicated, will be released this Wednesday.