(GoRealNewsNow.com) – In a sickening move, the Palestinian Islamist terror group Hamas transferred its youngest Israeli hostage – a 10-month-old baby boy – and his family to another terrorist organization, thus substantially reducing the chances for their rescue, according to reports.
During its surprise invasion of Israel on October 7, Hamas slaughtered over 1,400 people, and took about 240 others hostage, causing the Israelis to respond with a massive counteroffensive inside the Gaza Strip enclave.
On Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported that Hamas had handed over the ten-month-old Israeli infant, Kfir Bibas, and his family to another Palestinian terrorist organization in Gaza, National Review reports.
This development follows the initial agreement between Israel and Hamas to extend their four-day cease-fire until Wednesday, a decision aimed at facilitating the exchange of 20 more hostages for 60 Palestinian security prisoners.
However, the involvement of another group in holding the family significantly lowers the likelihood of their release within the extended cease-fire period, the report notes.
IDF Arabic-language spokesman Avichai Adraee stated that Kfir, along with his parents and four-year-old brother, are currently detained in Khan Yunis, a city in southern Gaza.
“Children and babies under the age of one who have not seen the light of day for more than fifty days are being held captive by Hamas, [who] treats some of them like loot and in some places has transferred them to other terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip,” Adraee declared.
The exact timing and details of the transfer remain unclear but security analyst Michael Horowitz told The Telegraph the Israeli family may now be in the custody of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a Marxist-Leninist terrorist organization based in Gaza.
This maneuver may represent a strategic decision by Hamas to use the Bibas family as a bargaining chip to prolong the truce.
This is especially relevant given that Khan Yunis is anticipated to be a key focus in the IDF’s operations once the cease-fire concludes.
“We will fight in the entire Strip,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declared on Monday.
The Bibas family, responding to this distressing situation, issued a statement expressing their profound uncertainty and anguish.
“The realization that we will not receive the hug we longed for so much now leaves us speechless,” the hostages’ relatives said.
During the initial four-day truce, Hamas released 69 hostages and received about 150 Palestinian inmates.