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Hamas hostage faces ‘unbearable reality’ after being released without wife and sons

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Yarden Bibas, an Israeli father who was kidnapped by Hamas along with his wife and two young children, has faced an “unbearable reality” after being released by the terror group without his family.

Isaac Herzog, the Israeli president, said he was “deeply concerned” for the wellbeing of Shiri Bibas and her two sons – Ariel, five, and Kfir, two, who was only nine-months-old when he was taken by Hamas gunmen.

Mr Bibas, 35, was handed over on Saturday as part of a ceasefire deal with Israel as well as American-Israeli Keith Siegel, 65, and French-Israeli Ofer Kalderon, 54.

Under the agreement, living women and children taken hostage by Hamas should have been freed first.

The terror group has said that the three other members of the Bibas family were killed in an air strike but Israel has been unable to verify this claim.

The assertion could be a cruel psychological ploy as Hamas also said that soldier Daniella Gilboa had been killed, when in fact she was alive, before her release last week.

Israel demanded information from mediators who brokered the ceasefire in Gaza on Saturday surrounding the fate of the Bibas family.

In a statement, Gal Hirsch, Israel’s hostage coordinator, said: “Yarden has returned home. But his wife Shiri and his children Ariel and Kfir have not. We have been searching for them for a long time, tracking their traces and investigating their fate.

“The Bibas family… has been living in constant fear for their lives for a long time…We continue to demand information about their condition from the mediators.”

Images of Shiri’s kidnap and the two red-headed boys – the youngest hostages held by the terror organisationhave become symbols of the most deadly day for the Jewish community since the Holocaust.

‘Family remains incomplete’

A statement from the Bibas family read: “A quarter of our heart has returned to us after 15 long months. There are no words to describe the relief of holding Yarden in our hands, embracing him and hearing his voice. Yarden has returned home but the home remains incomplete.

“Yarden is a father who left his safe room to protect his family, bravely survived captivity and returned to an unbearable reality.”

On Saturday, Mr Herzog said: “We all remain deeply concerned for the fate of our beloved Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas – as an entire nation we hold them in our hearts.”

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, also voiced concern for the family. “Our thoughts remain with Shiri, Ariel and Kfir, and all the hostages. We will continue to act to bring them all home,” he wrote on X.

It marked a day of bittersweet celebrations in Israel.

Ofer Kalderon is reunited with his children – Israel Defense Forces

Mr Kalderon, a French-Israeli, returned to his family and two young sons Sahar and Erez, who were kidnapped but freed in November 2023.

Mr Siegal went back to his four children, five grandchildren and wife Aviva, who was also released from captivity in the first ceasefire deal.

Hamas has said that eight of the remaining 20 hostages set to be released under the first phase of the ceasefire deal are dead. After this initial stage, there will still be 79 hostages left behind.

Saturday’s release was a more controlled affair following outrage from Israel and US-led negotiators when hostages were passed to the Red Cross after being paraded through baying crowds and flanked by dozens of masked gunmen.

Roi Avishai, a father of four, was among hundreds to come and anxiously watch the day unfold on the big screens in Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square.

He told The Telegraph: “I can’t imagine as a father what [Mr Bibas] must be feeling right now. This is a horrific tool of psychological warfare to release him into this unknown, with no clarification of whether his wife and children are murdered or alive.

“It’s a nightmare for all of us and for him, it’s hell.”

Ze’ev Yanay, another father whose sons are 11 and 13, said his children are hoping that the young Bibas boys will be released alive.

“I think that the Bibas boys have a weight in that the children are more able to relate to the situation,” he said. “The Bibas boys is an issue they talk about. They’re very excited about them coming back but I told them you have to be prepared as there are chances they’re not alive.

“That’s a heavy weight to carry but that’s our reality.”

Mr Bibas is pictured in a helicopter following his release – X/AvivaKlompa

Dr Hagai Levine, a member of the hostages’ medical team, said that after 484 days in captivity, the priority is ensuring the mental health of those being freed.

“Some had background illnesses without medications. We know about the starvation and the mental burden and torture they went through. Many went through hell-like situations,” he said on Saturday.

“Obviously for Yarden [Mr Bibas] there is the worry for his close family so number one is checking their mental status. I don’t think we can conclude anyone is looking well based on photos we don’t know what’s going on inside in terms of the soul or the body. It will be a long process of rehabilitation.”

Trump suggests Gaza ‘clean out’

Alongside the three Israeli hostages, 183 Palestinian prisoners were released by Israel as part of the agreement, several of whom were serving life sentences for murder or terror charges. This takes the total of prisoners released so far to 583.

In exchange for 33 Israeli hostages to be released in the first phase of the ceasefire, Israel agreed to release around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. Some of them will be sent to Gaza, others to the West Band and East Jerusalem, while others will be exiled to countries such as Turkey.

On Saturday, the Rafah border crossing – a key logistical route for Hamas, which was closed during the war – was opened to allow the transfer of 50 wounded Hamas militants to Egypt to receive treatment, along with three accompanying family members each.

The same day Hamas responded to a suggestion by Donald Trump, the US president, to “clean out Gaza” by relocating as many as 1.5 million residents of the enclave. He said: “The insistence of the American administration on displacement projects represents a recipe for more chaos and tension in the region.”


04:19 PM GMT

Egypt’s Sisi and Trump share ‘positive dialogue’ on Gaza deal

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and US President Donald Trump had a positive conversation on the phone, the Egyptian presidency spokesperson said in a statement on Saturday.

The issues including the importance of continuing to implement the first and second phases of the Gaza ceasefire agreement and consolidating it, the statement said.

Mr Sisi and Mr Trump agreed on the importance of continuous coordination and cooperation between the two countries, it said.


02:39 PM GMT

How many hostages are still in Gaza and who has been released?

On Oct 7 2023, Hamas terrorists flooded across the border into southern Israel, killing close to 1,200 people and dragging 251 hostages back to Gaza.

Now, more than 15 months on, Israel believes 87 hostages are still being held, 53 of whom are believed to still be alive.

Families have been separated from babies, grandparents, mothers, brothers and friends.

As part of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas that came into effect on Jan 19, Hamas has promised to release the hostages in stages in return for thousands of Palestinian prisoners.

Here, we put faces to the names of the living and the lost and tell their stories

Read the full story


01:41 PM GMT

Five Arab foreign ministers reject forced displacement of Palestinians

Top diplomats from Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar rejected any forcible displacement of Palestinians during a meeting in Cairo on Saturday, according to a joint statement.

The meeting came after US President Donald Trump floated an idea to relocate Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Egypt and Jordan.

The foreign ministers rejected any “infringement of the inalienable rights” of Palestinians, whether by “settlement, expulsion, home demolitions, annexation, depopulation of the land of its people through displacement, encouraged transfer or the uprooting of Palestinians from their land”.

Both Egypt and Jordan – key US allies in the region – have repeatedly rejected Mr Trump’s proposal to “clean out” the Gaza Strip.


01:28 PM GMT

Israel demands ‘information’ from mediators on Bibas family after father’s release

Israel on Saturday demanded information from mediators who brokered the ceasefire in Gaza about the fate of three family members of freed hostage Yarden Bibas.

“Yarden has returned home. But his wife Shiri and his children Ariel and Kfir have not. We have been searching for them for a long time, tracking their traces and investigating their fate,” Gal Hirsch, Israel’s hostage coordinator, said in a statement.

“The Bibas family… has been living in constant fear for their lives for a long time… We continue to demand information about their condition from the mediators.”


01:07 PM GMT

Yarden Bibas holds message of thanks to Israelis

Israel’s military published a photo of recently freed hostage Yarden Bibas in a military helicopter shortly after his release Saturday, holding a sign thanking Israelis for their support.

“I thank all the people of Israel for the support and help. I’ve heard from my family that you fought for me,” read the message Mr Bibas held up to the camera.

Mr Bibas, 35, returned to Israel without his wife, Shiri Bibas, or his two boys, Kfir and Ariel, who remain in captivity.

The family’s plight — and the two boys with their shocks of ginger hair — have captivated Israelis, and Yarden’s release dims hopes that the three others are alive.

Bibas hostage in the helicopter after being released. https://x.com/AvivaKlompas/status/1885655968748278259


12:23 PM GMT

Buses carrying Palestinian arrive in Khan Younis

Buses carrying Palestinian prisoners have been arriving in Khan Younis, Gaza, after they were freed by Israel earlier today.

The prisoners, dressed in grey prison uniforms, were greeted by hundreds of Gazans who gathered around the buses as they approached the city’s European Hospital.

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club advocacy group had said Israel would free 183 prisoners Saturday.


12:10 PM GMT

Ofer Kalderon reunites with four children

Ofer Kalderon has reunited with his four children after he was released by Hamas this morning.

Mr Kalderon,54, was pictured hugging his children at a hospital where he has been sent for medical treatment.

He was taken from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz along with his daughters, Sahar and Erez, who were later freed during a temporary ceasefire in November 2023.

Ofer Kalderon reunites with his children – Israel Defense Forces


11:57 AM GMT

Palestinians passed through Rafah, says Gaza health ministry

The health ministry in Gaza said 50 Palestinian patients went through the Rafah crossing to Egypt on Saturday, as the key gateway reopened as part of a ceasefire deal with Israel.

Egyptian state-linked channel Al-Qahera News showed footage of the first of 50 evacuees and 53 companions, including a child with an autoimmune disease, crossing the border into Egypt to receive treatment.

“From the medical files, 50 were approved by Egypt. We hope for this number to increase,” said Muhammad Zaqout, the director of Gaza hospitals.

“We now have 6,000 cases ready to be transferred, and more than 12,000 cases that are in dire need of treatment.”

The Rafah crossing had been closed since Israel seized its Palestinian side in May.


11:40 AM GMT

Israel says it has freed all 183 Palestinian prisoners as part of ceasefire swap

Israel’s Prison Authority said all 183 Palestinian prisoners slated for release today have been freed as part of a ceasefire deal with Hamas.

Most, including 111 arrested after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack, were released to Gaza. Just over two dozen returned to cheering crowds in the occupied West Bank. Another seven serving life sentences were transferred to Egypt ahead of their deportation.


10:48 AM GMT

First Palestinian patients to be allowed to leave Gaza will cross into Egypt

The first Palestinian patients to be allowed to leave Gaza, including children suffering from cancer and heart conditions, were expected to cross over to Egypt in a bus provided by the World Health Organization.

The Rafah crossing on the southern border was the only exit point for Palestinians during the war before Israel closed it in May.

A European Union civilian mission was deployed Friday to prepare for the crossing’s reopening, which would mark another key step in the first phase of the ceasefire


10:27 AM GMT

BBC apologises after calling Hamas hostages prisoners

The BBC has apologised after a presenter said Israeli hostages held by Hamas were “prisoners”, writes Tim Sigsworth.

Nicky Schiller, an anchor on the BBC News channel, told viewers on Friday that three “Israeli prisoners” were due to be released by the terror group on Saturday.

The three men – Yarden Bibas, 35, Ofer Kalderon, 54, and Keith Siegel, 65 – were all taken hostage by Hamas during the Oct 7 terror attacks in 2023.

Shortly after 11am, Mr Schiller told viewers: “Confirmation in the last couple of hours, first from Hamas, that three Israeli prisoners, all men this time, will be released tomorrow and then we will see 90 Palestinian prisoners freed from Israeli jails.”

Read the full story here


10:07 AM GMT

Crowds cheer as Palestinian prisoners arrive in West Bank

The Palestinian prisoners released by Israel arrived in the West Bank by bus to cheering crowds and supporters.

The bus departed Ofer Military Prison with some 32 prisoners for the West Bank. As they arrived in Beitunia, a suburb in the West Bank, dressed in grey tracksuits and many sporting long beards, they were carried through the crowd to cheers and waves.

According to Palestinian authorities, a total of 183 Palestinian prisoners are to be released today, including dozens serving lengthy sentences or life sentences, and 111 people from the Gaza Strip who were arrested after Oct. 7, 2023 and held without trial. About 150 other prisoners were being sent to Gaza or deported.

A former Palestinian prisoner released by Israel is cheered upon his arrival in Ramallah – AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images

A freed Palestinian prisoner is greeted after his release – REUTERS/Mohammed Torokman


09:56 AM GMT

Israel releases Palestinian prisoners

The release of 183 Palestinian prisoners by Israel is underway.

They are part of a phased release of prisoners for hostages held by Hamas.


09:45 AM GMT

Footage shows Yarden Bibas reuniting with family

Yarden Bibas was seen hugging and kissing members of his family after he was released by Hamas this morning.

Footage released by Israel’s Channel 12 shows Mr Bibas dressed in a black jumper appearing relieved yet withdrawn as he was escorted by Israeli army personnel to meet his family.

Mr Bibas was abducted along with his wife and two children by Hamas on Oct 7, 2023. Israeli authorities had expected his wife, Shiri, and two sons Ariel , five, and Kfir, two, to have been released by now in line with the terms of the ceasefire agreement and hostage release deal. The fact they haven’t has provoked “grave concerns” over their fate, Israeli authorities have said.


09:20 AM GMT

IDF receives Keith Siegal

The Israeli army says it has now received Keith Siegal, the third of today’s hostages to be released by Hamas.

“A short while ago, the returning civilian hostage, Keith Siegel, crossed the border into Israeli territory accompanied by IDF [army] and ISA [security agency] forces,” the military said in a statement.

Mr Siegal was freed earlier today along with Yarden Bibas, 35, and French-Israeli Ofer Kalderon, 54.

All were paraded on stages and seen waving to crowds before being handed over to the Red Cross and transported to Israel.


09:15 AM GMT

How many hostages have been released since ceasefire?

Saturday’s release of three Israeli hostages takes the total since a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel was agreed two weeks ago to 18.

Four hundred Palestinian prisoners have also been released by Israel in return for the deal to end the war in Gaza.

Negotiations are due to start by Tuesday on agreements for the release of the remaining hostages and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza in a second phase of the deal.

During the first phase of the ceasefire, 33 children, women and older male hostages as well as sick and injured, were due to be released, with more than 60 men of military age left for a second phase which must still be negotiated.

The initial six-week ceasefire, agreed with Egyptian and Qatari mediators and backed by the United States, has so far stayed on track despite a number of incidents that have led both sides to accuse the other of violating the deal.

The Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023 killed some 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostage, according to Israeli figures.

Israel’s campaign in response has destroyed much of the densely populated Gaza Strip and killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health authorities.

A man and a woman watch the hostage releases on a screen in Tel Aviv – JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images


08:59 AM GMT

Macron shares ‘joy’ of Gaza hostage Ofer Kalderon’s release

French President Emmanuel Macron said he shared the “immense relief and joy” of the family of Ofer Kalderon after they were put through “483 days of unimaginable hell”.

Mr Macron hailed the release of the French Israeli hostage by Hamas early on Saturday and said France was still trying to secure the release of another of its nationals, Ohad Yaholomi.

“Ofer Kalderon is free! We share the immense relief and joy of his loved ones after 483 days of unimaginable hell,” he said.

“Our thoughts are with Ohad Yahalomi, still in the hands of Hamas, and his family. France is doing everything it can to achieve his release without delay.”


08:37 AM GMT

All three Israeli hostages scheduled for release today now freed

Hamas has now released all three Israeli hostages scheduled to be released today as part of the fourth instalment of a ceasefire deal.

Ofer Kalderon and Yarden Bibas were paraded on a stage before being released to the Red Cross in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, before Keith Siegel was freed in a similar ceremony at Gaza City’s port in the north.

It is the latest stage of a phased exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

Yarden Biba being released by Hamas earlier on Saturday


08:26 AM GMT

Keith Siegel waves on stage

The 65-year-old looked thin and unsteady on his feet as he walked on a stage and briefly waved before being led off by Hamas fighters.

Siegel was then taken by both arms and handed over to the Red Cross at Gaza Port.

The scenes were more controlled and muted after negotiators demanded an end to Hamas’ showmanship of previous releases.

Palestinian Hamas militants release Keith Siegel on Saturday – REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas


08:24 AM GMT

Hamas frees third hostage Keith Siegel

Hamas has freed the third hostage Keith Siegel, an American Israeli who was captured on Oct 7.

A drone views shows Palestinians and Hamas militants gathering on the day of the release of Keith Siegel – REUTERS/Mohammed Salem


08:18 AM GMT

We are ‘overwhelmed with joy’, say family of freed hostage Ofer Kalderon

The family of freed Israeli hostage Ofer Kalderon say they are “overwhelmed with joy, relief and emotion” after his release by Hamas this morning.

Mr Kalderon was kidnapped on Oct 7 by the terrorist group and held in captivity for 484 days.

“Today, we finally embrace Ofer, seeing and truly comprehending that he is here with us,” the family said in a statement.

“We have witnessed how, through extraordinary mental strength, he survived this hell. Ofer endured months in a nightmare, and we are proud of his ability to survive and hold onto the hope of embracing his children again.”

Mr Kalderon’s release comes as part of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that came into effect two weeks ago.

The family of Israeli hostage Ofer Kalderon celebrate as they watch a broadcast of his release – AP Photo/Ariel Schalit


08:07 AM GMT

Keith Siegel expected to be third hostage released later

The American-Israeli Keith Siegel is expected to be transferred later to Israel as the third hostage to be released by Hamas today.

The Israeli military confirmed it had received French-Israeli Ofer Kalderon, 54, and Yarden Bibas, 35, after they were released to the Red Cross earlier today.

Mr Bibas is the father of the two youngest hostages, baby Kfir, only 9 months old when he was kidnapped by Hamas-led gunmen on Oct. 7, 2023, and Ariel, who was 4 at the time of the cross-border attack.


07:58 AM GMT

In pictures: Hamas arrive in Gaza City to release hostages

Hamas fighters greet the crowds – Anadolu

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