Why was the Bibas children not released first?

[MrsKwazi]

I know it was reported they were dead, then alive, anybody know why they have not been released first?

Maybe he will have some knowledge about what’s happened to them 🤷🏻‍♀️

If Israel has confirmed to the families which of the 8 they believe are dead then surely one of the Bibas family would have come out and said by now? (Or any of the other 8 to be honest?) the fact that Israel is still asking Hamas to confirm the status of Shiri and the children surely suggests they still have a chance they are alive?

Heard on radio last night that child hostages are at risk because they are noisy- and are liable to give location away by crying.
They mentioned an autistic girl of 12 who was murdered along with her grandmother-
Adult male hostages are more likely to be easier to hold than children- hence children being far more at risk.

I heard on the news today that their father confided to another hostage that he has been told his family are dead. Desperately sad.

Oh @oakleaffy that is dreadful so callous and cruel

Yarden Bibas was kidnapped separately from Shiri and the children and he did not even know that they were also hostages until his captors announced to him on day 54 that they were dead (we know this as he was held together with Nili Margalit and other hostages from the kibbutz and she said he was told immediately before she was taken to be released).

Hamas has only supplied the number of alive/dead hostages for stage 1 of the deal but not their identities. The number is said to accord with Israeli intelligence assessments; however, Israel does not announce that a hostage is dead unless there is conclusive evidence.

In stage 1 of the deal it was agreed in the deal that women would be released before men and live hostages before dead bodies.

@israelilefty

Some of the media report though that those that Israel believes is one of the eight have informed their families that they believe them to be deceased?

Yes. Families have been contacted and told that there is “grave concern” for their family members.

His body language on release did not seem like that of a person with much hope. Desperately sad.

It is heartbreaking.

Hamas said they had been killed a long time ago now. The IDF stated in November 2023 that Hamas had reported that they had been killed last November. The IDF said they were looking into it at the time.

This excerpt is from The Times of Israel 29 November 2023:

The Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday it had notified the family of a mother and two young children kidnapped to Gaza that it was investigating a “cruel and inhumane” Hamas statement claiming the three had been killed.

The statement by Hamas’s military wing asserted Shiri Bibas, 32, and her children, four-year-old Ariel and 10-month-old Kfir, were killed in an Israeli strike during the war in the Strip. It did not say when this had allegedly occurred (a pause in fighting has been in place since November 24).
www.timesofisrael.com/idf-investigating-cruel-hamas-claim-that-bibas-children-mother-killed-in-gaza/

This was most likely why they were not released with other children during the 2023 ceasefire and hostage/ prisoner exchange.

💔

Just reviving this thread as I've seen the next three hostages to be released and I'm so sad to see it's not shiri and her babies.
I really hope they are alive but if they are Hamas are being particularly cruel keeping them like this for so long to "give back" at the end.

I do hope they are alive, but fear the delay is because they are not. Hamas will hold onto their bodies, and any sense of closure, for as long as they can.

💔

Sadly, probably because they are dead.

It won't do the Hamas PR machine any good letting people know that. So they don't answer or pretend they are alive or just ignore the requests to see them.

Looking at the latest hostage release then I don't hold out much hope for the remaining hostages. Probably why hamas are looking at ways of stopping releasing anymore. The response after the release of the last hostages cannot be ignored and hamas need to keep their PR machine rolling, the last release showed many of their lies up.

For me its one of three options:

1. the most likely scenario is that sadly they have died. We have seen the condition the other hostages are in and i sadly have to say i can't see kids surviving that. Hamas have said they are dead but provided no evidence. But they have also said Noa Argamani and Daniella Gilboa were dead and both were subsequently released/rescued alive
2. They are alive but being held by a non-Hamas group. we know this was true at one stage and they said that's why they weren't released in the first stage. Honestly Hamas didn't know where they were at that point
3. (this one reflects worst on both parties) They are alive but being held back last as they are the most high profile of the hostages to try and keep the ceasefire going - It provides Israel with more ammo and support if they are not released if they do have to go in as they can still say "babies are being held hostage" and from Hamas' point of view they are the most valuable and the ones ISrael will try to hold the ceasefire for to get back and also emotional manipulation of the Israeli public

I really pray it is 2.