IDF confirms Hamas passed on 10-months-old hostage boy to another terrorist group inside Gaza

WORLD  29 November 2023 - 08:57

As more and more Israeli hostages are being released, with children and their families and elderly women on top of the list, the uncertainty surrounding the fate of the youngest hostage keeps growing.

As reported by the Telegraph, Hamas is preventing the release of 10-month-old baby Kfir Babis, who is being held captive in Gaza together with his four-year-old brother Ariel and mother Shiri.

Israel confirmed on November 27 that the family has been handed over to a separate Palestinian terror group in the southern Gazan city of Khan Yunis, with experts believing it to be the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a Marxist–Leninist terror group, which is why they have not been on the list of hostages to be released.

Rear Adml Daniel Hagari said the responsibility for the family remained with Hamas, even if they had passed them on to other groups.

Israel Defense Forces spokesman said the city is expected to be a major target of Israel’s next offensive, raising the prospect the infant being used for further leverage in talks to extend the truce. 

Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defence minister, promised to “use the same amount of power and more” in a renewed military assault on Gaza once the hostage exchange deal expires, which has been extended on November 27 by a further 2 days. This will lead to the release of a further 20 hostages or more.

This news came as Gallant warned troops that Hamas would be using the pause in fighting to prepare for the expected IDF onslaught in the south.

Footage recorded by the militant group on October 7 showing their abduction went around the world, while news emerged that the children's grandparents had been murdered in the course of the massacre. As it became clear that the family is not going to be part of the released hostages in the initial four-day truce deal, protesters gathered in Tel Aviv on November 28 to raise awareness of this fact.

Caliber.Az