Israel announced on Friday that Hamas terrorists had brutally murdered Israeli brothers Ariel and Kfir Bibas with their bare hands, contradicting Hamas' longstanding claim that the children died in an Israeli airstrike. "Ariel and Kfir Bibas were murdered by terrorists in cold blood," the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement on X.
"The terrorists did not shoot the two young boys — they killed them with their bare hands. Afterward, they committed horrific acts to cover up these atrocities." Israeli officials revealed the disturbing truth after the children's remains were among the four coffins that were returned to Israel – and then identified -- as part of the ongoing cease-fire deal.
Killed Mercilessly
"According to the assessment of professional officials, based on the intelligence available to us and forensic findings from the identification process, Ariel and Kfir Bibas were brutally murdered by terrorists in captivity in November 2023," an IDF spokesperson said in a statement.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum expressed shock over the army's revelation that Palestinian terrorists brutally killed the Bibas boys with their bare hands.
"We are shaken to the core by the horrifying findings confirming the cruel and brutal murder of Ariel and Kfir Bibas — just innocent infants — at the hands of Hamas," the group said in a statement.
The Bibas family, who became a global symbol of Israeli hostages' suffering, had clung to hope that the boys and their mother, Shiri Bibas, were still alive after being abducted by Hamas in the early weeks of the war.
In November 2023, without providing evidence, Hamas claimed that the children—then 4 years old and 10 months old—along with their mother, had died in an Israeli airstrike.
However, Israel only officially confirmed their deaths this week after announcing that the boys and their mother were among the four hostages Hamas had agreed to return on Thursday.
Kfir and Ariel's father was released earlier this month as part of an already shaky ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel.
Hamas' Brutality Continues
Israeli officials confirmed the identities of the two boys and 83-year-old hostage Oded Lifshitz. However, the fourth casket, which was supposed to contain their mother's remains, instead held an unidentified body.
"During the identification process, it was determined that the additional body received is not that of Shiri Bibas, and no match was found for any other hostage," officials said.
On Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed revenge, condemning the act as a "cruel and malicious violation" of the ceasefire agreement.
Netanyahu condemned the militants for behaving "in an indescribably cynical way" by placing unidentified remains in the coffin instead of those of Bibas.
"We will work with determination to bring Shiri home together with all our hostages — both living and dead — and ensure that Hamas pays the full price for this cruel and malicious violation of the agreement," he said.
