Since Israel reluctantly signed the three-stage Gaza ceasefire deal in Doha, a slew of prominent Israeli experts have been consistently sounding the alarm that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is already looking for a way to “evade the agreement”; that his far-right government harbors “malicious intent” to collapse the deal after the 42 days of phase one; and that the Israeli prime minister has riddled the path to ending the war with loopholes as well as ticking bombs and traps designed to torpedo the deal while placing the blame on the Palestinians.
One of the most likely ticking bombs is the fate of the Bibas family – Shiri, Yarden, 4-year-old Ariel, and baby Kfir, who were abducted and taken to Gaza on Oct 7, 2023. The family has become the centerpiece of Israel’s PR campaign throughout the war. When the world chanted “all eyes on Rafah,” Israel responded with “all eyes on Ariel,” vowing constantly to “never rest” until they were home.
Since the ceasefire was announced, Israel further intensified its campaigning for the release of the Bibas family. Israeli influencers, including some with apparent ties to the Israeli government, have been flooding social media with daily posts about the Bibas kids, expressing fervent hopes and prayers for their imminent return.
On Tuesday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry took a delegation of more than 20 social media “influencers” to the kibbutz and home where the Bibas lived. Israeli President Isaac Herzog spoke at the World Economic Forum with a picture of Kfir Bibas sitting next to him. Eylon Levy, Netanyahu’s former spokesperson, wrote about the family on X roughly 50 times in the last year, vowing “hell” and “fury” if they came back dead. The Israeli public was asked to display the color orange on Wednesday, amid the visit of US President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff, to mark the hair color of the Bibas kids. Witkoff, while in Tel Aviv, was given a custom orange dog tag with a picture of the Bibas family on it, which he wore while touring the city.
Yet, this heartening campaign rests on a tragic deception: the Bibas family – except for the father, Yarden – were killed in Gaza in November 2023 during an Israeli airstrike, Hamas has said. The armed group offered to return their bodies to Israel in November, but Netanyahu rejected the offer. Israel’s government has apparently known their tragic fate for 14 months but has chosen to deliberately pretend they were still alive to capitalize on the narrative of Palestinian “monsters” holding a baby hostage. And Israel might soon use their grim fate to blow up the ceasefire.
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