Get ready for a harsh reality tomorrow.
Hamas and Israel have exchanged lists of hostages and prisoners they will exchange in the latest swap in the first phase of the cease-fire agreement. American Keith Siegel is finally among those who will return from Gaza, presumably alive, as well as two other Israeli men. And that may mean heartbreak for Israelis who had hoped that his wife and two children were still alive:
Three Israeli hostages slated for release by Hamas from Gaza on Saturday were named Friday as Ofer Calderon, 54, Keith Siegel, 65, and Yarden Bibas, 35, officials said.
Israeli officials said that the families had been notified and that Israel accepted the Hamas list.
Siegel, a dual Israeli-US citizen originally from North Carolina, was taken captive with his wife Aviva from Kibbutz Kfar Aza during the Hamas-led invasion and massacre in southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Aviva was freed during a previous ceasefire in November 2023.
Israelis and the world have hoped against hope that the rest of the Bibas family were still alive as well. Hamas kidnapped babies Ariel and Kfir as well as their mother Shiri, and their lack of appearance in hostage-swap lists has become excruciating. Just the fact that Hamas has produced only men in this exchange makes it look as though the rest of the Bibas family is dead.
The Israelis want an explanation:
Earlier this week, Israel reportedly demanded that Hamas clarify the condition of Shiri and the two small boys, who are all on the list of 33 hostages being freed in the first, 42-day phase of the hostage-ceasefire deal.
Fears for the fate of the Bibas trio have grown, as Hamas did not return them among the first hostages released. Living women and children were supposed to be freed first under the deal, followed by injured and infirm men and men over 50.
Concerns over the Bibas children have grown over the last several months, but have certainly heightened in the last couple of weeks of negotiations. The Israelis had video footage of the three surviving their capture and transport back to Gaza:
The IDF was able to confirm, after securing footage, that Shiri and her two sons were taken to Gaza alive. After being taken to Khan Yunis on October 7, 2023, they were detained by a terror group by the name of Kataib Mujahadin.
Following the footage release, the family said in a statement, “These videos tear our hearts out. Witnessing Shiri, Yarden, Ariel, and Kfir ripped away from their home in Nir Oz into this hellscape feels unbearable and inhumane.
“Kidnapping children is a crime against humanity and a war crime. Ariel and Kfir are victims of monstrous evil. Our whole family has become hostages along with all the hostages.”
Kidnapping civilians is definitionally a war crime on its own, as was the widespread use of rape, not to mention the wanton slaughter of 1200 men, women, and children in the October 7 massacre. And that was an organized effort by Hamas rather than just a spontaneous eruption of hatred between populations. Hamas assigned it a name — Operation Al-Aqsa Flood — and promised to repeat it as often as necessary until they destroy the state of Israel and enslave the Jews that survive.
Even by those standards, though, their capture and abuse of the Bibas babies is particularly cruel. They immediately became the poster children for hostages, a point that Hamas understood well enough, given their obsession with propaganda. To have murdered them after taking them alive even while they posed no operational risk at all is monstrous beyond belief.
If it turns out to be true, it may end up backfiring on Hamas, although that may also end up being wishful thinking. The Israelis place a high cultural and religious value on saving hostages from death and cruelty, which Hamas has exploited for two decades now. If they murdered these babies while in their custody, the Israelis might have a political awakening to the futility of these policies, and might choose to just have an all-out war in Gaza after all to settle this once and for all. That’s clearly what Hamas plans for Israel anyway, and better to have that now rather than allow Hamas to rebuild … again.
