“Hostages Free and Reunited with Families, Fate of Youngest Captives Still Unknown”

The three Israeli men who spent more than a year in Hamas captivity have been reunited with their families after their release earlier today.

Yarden Bibas and Ofer Kalderon, who are French Israeli citizens, were delivered to Red Cross representatives in Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Keith Siegel, an American-Israeli hostage, was released later that same morning in Gaza City.

The Israeli Defense Forces confirmed that Bibas and Kalderon had been reunited with their families, and they also shared photos and videos capturing the heartfelt moment.

One moving clip shows Kalderon reuniting with his four children as they joyfully rush towards their father and leap into his arms. 

‘I didn’t give up’, he tells his kids, to which one of his sons responds: ‘It’s over Dad, you’re with us.’

Kalderon’s daughter Gaya can be heard telling him: ‘Everybody’s okay, everybody’s alive’, as the family continue to hug and cry.

A separate clip shows Kalderon reuniting with his brother.

‘I’m not going anywhere’, Kalderon tells him as they two siblings hug. 

Kalderon’s brother can be heard telling him how much he loves him between embraces. 

‘I had to go all the way to Gaza for you to tell me that?’, Kalderon jokes.

Kalderon was abducted on October 7, 2023, alongside his two children Erez and Sahar, but they were released in the first exchange.

Bibas, who had been held captive, returned to Israel today; however, his wife Shiri and their two young sons, Ariel and Kfir, who were also abducted by Hamas 15 months ago, were not with him.

He was seen reuniting with his father and sister in an emotional clip. 

A separate video shows the father-of-two being hugged by his mother as she sobs into his shoulders.

Footage of Bibas reuniting with his loved ones is particularly raw given that the fates of his wife and children remain unknown. 

Bbay Kfir was only nine months old when he was kidnapped, and Ariel was just four at the time of the attack. 

Hamas said in late 2023 that they had been killed by Israeli bombardment, but Israel has not officially confirmed their deaths.

Terror group Hamas released a horrific video at the time showing Yarden breaking down after being told that his wife and sons were dead.

Hamas did not offer proof to back up its claims and Israel’s Defence Forces blasted the sick video as ‘psychological terror’. 

Following his release from Hamas captivity, Bibas’ family issued an emotional statement today, asking the public to ‘protect his soul’ as he returned without his wife and sons. 

‘Yarden is home. A quarter of our heart has returned to us after 15 long months. There are no words to describe the relief of holding Yarden in our hands, embracing him, and hearing his voice. Yarden has returned home, but the home remains incomplete,’ the statement says. 

‘Yarden is a father who left his safe room to protect his family, bravely survived captivity and returned to an unbearable reality.

 ‘At this time, we ask: Protect Yarden, Protect his soul. Please respect his privacy and give him the space he needs so that his body and soul can begin to recover,’ the statement says.

In a TV interview in June, then-Israeli minister Benny Gantz suggested that the government knew what had happened to the Bibas family, but that it could not provide details yet. 

Israel has not officially confirmed the deaths of the two boys and their mother, but has expressed ‘grave concern’ for their fate. 

There have been no proof-of-life videos shared of Shiri or her sons since their abduction on October 7, 2023.

Horrific video of the mother and her two young boys being taken away by the terrorists was met with horror worldwide due to her visible distress. 

Footage of a frail-looking Siegel reuniting with his family was released later today, in which he is seen greeting his wife Aviva, his daughters Ilan, Gal and Shir and his brother Lee.

Bibas was released to the Red Cross in a ceremony early this morning alongside Kalderon in the latest stage of the phased exchange of hostages between Israel and Hamas. 

Each climbed on a stage and waved to onlookers. 

Armed Hamas militants formed a line leading to the stage in an orderly handover, a contrast to the chaotic crowds that had surrounded hostages during a handover Thursday, angering Israel. 

U.S.-Israeli dual national Siegel was later handed over to the Red Cross at Gaza Port.

Images of Siegel being handed over to the Red Cross showed the freed hostage looking pale and thin. 

Separate pictures show him exiting a helicopter after touching down in Israel.

He was seen in a video released by Hamas last year and his wife was released in the first hostage-for-prisoner exchange in November 2023.

Shortly after Siegel arrived in Israel, a bus departed Ofer Military Prison with some 32 Palestinian prisoners bound for the West Bank.

Crowds of well-wishers greeted the bus, cheering and hoisting the released prisoners on their shoulders in scenes of jubilation. 

Israel is expected to transfer 182 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, Hamas said,  while wounded Palestinians are expected to be allowed to leave Gaza for Egypt through the Rafah crossing. 

When it opened, a group of 50 sick and wounded Palestinian children crossed for treatment.

It had been the only exit point for Palestinians during the war before Israel closed it in May. 

A European Union civilian mission was deployed Friday to prepare for the reopening of the crossing. 

The truce, which began Jan. 19, is aimed at winding down the deadliest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and the Hamas militant group.

The fragile deal has held for nearly two weeks, halting the fighting and allowing for increased aid to flow into the tiny coastal territory.

Hamas said this week that only 25 of the 33 hostages it plans to release are still alive. They will be freed in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners during the truce’s first six weeks.

The 33 names on the list are women, the Bibas family children, men aged over 50, and unwell and injured men.

Israel has accused Hamas of ‘psychological terror’ for naming the hostages but not actually confirming whether they are alive.

Whether hostages were alive or dead inside Gaza has been a heartbreaking question for waiting families who have pushed Israel’s government to reach a deal to free them, fearing that time was running out.

Around 90 hostages are still being held, and Israeli authorities believe between a third and a half of them were killed in the initial attack or died in captivity.

An Israeli general revealed Monday that some of the hostages released from Gaza so far during the ceasefire had been held in Hamas tunnels for up to eight months straight, deprived of daylight and with little to no human contact. 

Three Israeli civilians and four soldiers – all women – have been released so far in the ceasefire, and in return, Israel has released 290 Palestinian convicts and detainees.

‘Some of them told us that they’ve been in the past few months, that they’ve been through the entire time, in tunnels, underground,’ deputy chief of the Israeli military’s medical corps, Colonel Dr. Avi Banov, told journalists online.

‘Some of them were alone through the entire time they were there,’ he said. 

‘Those who said they were together were in better shape.’

The hostages said their treatment improved in the days leading up to their release, Banov said, when they were allowed to shower, change their clothes and received better food. 

They appeared to be in good condition and smiling in videos on the days of their release.

Citing the hostages’ privacy, Banov would not say whether any of the seven bore signs of torture or abuse.

Some had not received proper treatment for wounds sustained when they were captured during the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and some showed signs of ‘mild starvation’, Banov said.

The ceasefire reached earlier this month after more than a year of negotiations is aimed at ending the 15-month war, which was triggered by the initial 2023 Hamas attack, as well as freeing hostages still held in Gaza in return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

The first phase of the ceasefire runs until early March, but the second and far more difficult phase has yet to be negotiated. 

Talks on phase two are set to begin next Monday.

Hamas has said it will not release the remaining hostages without an end to the war, while Israel has threatened to resume its offensive until Hamas is destroyed.

The reopening of the Rafah crossing would mark another key step in the first phase of the ceasefire, which calls for the release of 33 hostages and nearly 2,000 prisoners, the return of Palestinians to northern Gaza and an increase in humanitarian aid to the devastated territory. 

Egyptian television showed an Palestinian Red Cross ambulance pulling up to the crossing gate, and several children were brought out on stretchers and transferred to ambulances on the Egyptian side. 

In Kfar Saba, north of Tel Aviv, Kalderon’s family hugged and cheered as they saw the images of him climbing onto the stage in Khan Younis and being transferred to the Red Cross.

‘Ofer is coming home!’ they said, arms lifted to the sky.

Kalderon’s two children, Erez and Sahar, were abducted alongside him and released during a brief ceasefire in November 2023. Family members said they weren’t able to recover from their ordeal until their father returned.

‘We are sorry it took so long, Ofer,’ said Eyal Kalderon. ‘We will soon be a whole family again. We hope other families will soon feel like this, until the last family.’

Keith Siegel, originally from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, was taken hostage from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, along with his wife, Aviva Siegel. She was released during the 2023 ceasefire and has waged a high-profile campaign to free Keith and other hostages.

There were sighs of relief and cheers in a living room where members of the kibbutz watched Siegel’s release. Many of those in the room were family friends, who applauded upon seeing his face, while some teared up. 

Siegel is one of the highest-profile hostages, now a household name in Israel after his wife Aviva Siegel, also captured in the Hamas attack, mounted a public campaign to bring him home after her own release from captivity in November 2023. 

Speaking after his release, his wife Aviva said: ‘The great day has arrived. Yes! I am happy. I am happy. there is no one happier than me. I am ready with everything and I’m going to meet him!’

The dozens of Palestinian prisoners to be released by Israel on Saturday include people serving lengthy and life sentences.

Israel and Hamas are set next week to begin negotiating a second phase of the ceasefire, which calls for releasing the remaining hostages and extending the truce indefinitely. The war could resume in early March if an agreement is not reached.

Israel says it is still committed to destroying Hamas, even after the militant group reasserted its rule over Gaza within hours of the latest ceasefire. A key far-right partner in Netanyahu’s coalition is calling for the war to resume after the ceasefire’s first phase.

Hamas says it won’t release the remaining hostages without an end to the war and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.