Israel says it killed a Hamas militant involved in Yarden Bibas kidnapping

JERUSALEM – Few of the Israelis taken hostage in the Hamas-led attack on Oct 7, 2023, have drawn as much attention as the Bibas family – two parents and two small children. For many Israelis, their abductions came to symbolise the brutality of the assault.

On Aug 19, the Israeli authorities said they had killed a Hamas fighter who they said had been involved in the kidnapping of the father, Mr Yarden Bibas.

His wife and children were abducted separately and killed in captivity.

The Israeli military and the Shin Bet, the domestic security agency, said in a statement that on Aug 10, they “struck and eliminated” Jihad Kamal Salem Najjar, whom they identified as a member of Hamas’ military wing.

According to the statement, Najjar “infiltrated Kibbutz Nir Oz during the brutal Oct 7 massacre and took part in the abduction of Yarden Bibas.”

The announcement was accompanied by an image showing Mr Bibas during his kidnapping, bleeding in what appears to be the back of a pickup truck, along with someone the Israeli authorities identified as Najjar.

The New York Times could not independently verify that the person in the picture was Najjar, nor that Najjar was a Hamas fighter.

Hamas seldom comments on such announcements, and there does not appear to be any past mention of Najjar in Israeli or Arab news media.

Mr Bibas and his family, on the other hand, are very well known.

Ms Shiri Bibas was 32 when she was kidnapped with the couple’s two boys – Ariel, 4, and Kfir, who was about 9 months old, the youngest of the hostages. Her parents were killed in the same kibbutz.

Video circulated worldwide of a terrified Shiri Bibas clutching her children as the three of them were taken to the Gaza Strip. Mr Yarden Bibas, then 34, was captured separately.

In November 2023, Hamas said Ms Shiri Bibas and the two children had been killed in an Israeli airstrike. The Israeli authorities later said after a forensic analysis of their bodies that they had been killed by their captors.

As part of a temporary ceasefire deal in February, Mr Bibas was released, and the bodies of his wife and children were returned to Israel.

Responding to the news that Najjar had been killed, Mr Bibas thanked the Israeli authorities, saying in a statement “a small part of my closure happened today”.

“I am waiting for full closure with the return of my friends David and Ariel, and the remaining 48 hostages,” he added, referring to David and Ariel Cunio, who grew up with Mr Bibas in the Kibbutz Nir Oz community. The Cunio brothers are still being held in Gaza.

The Israeli announcement came as a humanitarian crisis grips Gaza, drawing international condemnation of Israel, and as pressure mounts within Israel on the government to end the war.

On Aug 17, an estimated 400,000 Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv to call for a ceasefire and a deal for the release of the remaining hostages, of whom about 20 are believed to still be alive.

Many relatives of the hostages, and those who have been released from Gaza, have called on Israel not to intensify military operations in the enclave, saying it would endanger the remaining captives.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing competing pressures from some in the Israeli public who want a negotiated ceasefire and members of his far-right governing coalition who staunchly oppose a truce.

Israel’s security Cabinet in August approved a contentious plan to take over Gaza City, which would displace hundreds of thousands of Palestinians sheltering there.

Hamas on Aug 18 said it had agreed to the terms of a deal presented by Qatari and Egyptian mediators. Some Israeli leaders said Hamas’ approval of the proposal came as a direct result of the Netanyahu government announcing it would expand the military offensive in Gaza.

At the same time, some far-right members of Mr Netanyahu’s coalition have indicated he could lose their support if he accepts the proposal.

On Aug 19, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the government had approved a major expansion of the defence budget, raising it US$8 billion (S$10.3 billion), an increase of more than 25 per cent, according to Mr Yehuda Amrani, a Finance Ministry spokesperson.

The Defence Ministry on Aug 19 said in a separate statement that Mr Katz was in talks with senior defence officials “to approve offensive plans in Gaza”.

About 1,200 people were killed and 250 abducted from Israel in the Oct 7 attack. In the ensuing war, more than 62,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. NYTIMES