By James Mackenzie
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Hamas said on Friday it would free the father of the youngest hostages seized in its Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel and two others including a dual U.S. citizen and a dual French citizen in the next exchange of Gaza hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
Yarden Bibas, Keith Siegel and Ofer Kalderon will be handed over on Saturday, said Abu Obeida, spokesperson for the armed wing of the Palestinian militant group, in a post on his Telegram channel.
Bibas is the father of baby Kfir, only nine months old when he was kidnapped, and Ariel, who was four at the time of the cross-border attack.
There was no word on the fate of Kfir and Ariel or of their mother Shiri, who was taken at the same time. Hamas said in late 2023 that they had been killed by Israeli bombardment in the early months of the Gaza war.
Video of their capture began circulating soon after they were seized. It showed a terrified Shiri clutching her small children in a blanket as they were bundled into captivity surrounded by militant assailants.
The father, Yarden, 34 at the time of the attack, was also abducted and a clip circulated showing him bleeding from a head injury caused by hammer blows.
Israeli-American Siegel, who was taken hostage with his wife Aviva, was seen in a video released by Hamas last year. His wife was released in the first hostage-for-prisoner exchange in November 2023.
Kalderon’s two children Erez and Sahar, abducted alongside him, were also freed in the first exchange. The French-Israeli national’s family said they were waiting with “immense joy mixed with paralysing anguish” for his release.
On Thursday, Hamas freed three Israeli and five Thai hostages in Gaza while Israel freed 110 Palestinian prisoners after delaying the process in anger at the swarming crowds engulfing one of the hostage handover points.
The White House welcomed the release of the hostages on Thursday and said President Donald Trump remained committed to the release of all those remaining.
Under the ceasefire deal that halted more than 15 months of fighting, 33 hostages held by Palestinian militants in Gaza are to be freed in the first six weeks of the truce in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, many of whom have been serving life sentences in Israel.
Fifteen hostages, including the five Thai workers, have been freed so far and Hamas has told Israel that eight of the 33 are now dead. In exchange, Israel has handed over 400 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, and is due to transfer another 72 long-term prisoners and 111 detainees from Gaza on Saturday, the Hamas media office said.
The truce has enabled a surge in international humanitarian aid to Gaza civilians suffering dire supply shortages and the first Palestinians – injured civilians and militant fighters – were due to travel to Egypt on Saturday through the newly reopened Rafah crossing.
But the fragile calm could be jeopardised if Israel prevents operations in Gaza by the U.N. Palestinian relief agency UNRWA after banning it from contact with Israel, UNRWA communications chief Juliette Touma told a briefing in Geneva on Friday. For now, the agency’s work in Gaza was continuing, she said.
PALESTINIAN PRISONERS INCLUDE MINORS
Thursday’s release of hostages in Gaza was marked by chaotic scenes that led Israel to warn mediators it would not accept any risk to the hostages. For its part, Hamas has accused Israel of violations, including gunfire by its troops and preventing the arrival of tents and heavy equipment.
The Palestinian prisoners and detainees include 30 minors and some convicted members of Palestinian groups responsible for deadly attacks that have killed dozens of people in Israel.
Around 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 hostages were abducted in the Hamas attack in Israel, the deadliest day for Israel since the founding of the state, according to Israel.
Israel’s military response has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry, and laid waste to the enclave of 2.3 million people, who face severe shortages of medicine, fuel and food.
Around half the hostages were released in November 2023 during the only previous truce, and others have been recovered dead or alive during Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
More talks on the implementation of the second stage of the deal, due to begin by Feb. 4, are meant to open the way to the release of over 60 other hostages, including men of military age, and a full Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza.
If that succeeds, a formal end to the war could follow along with talks on the mammoth challenge of reconstructing Gaza.
(Reporting by Jana Choukeir and James Mackenzie; additional reporting by Emma Farge in Geneva; writing by Michael Georgy; editing by Mark Heinrich and Cynthia Osterman)
