Baby Brothers and Mother Held Hostage Are Dead, Hamas Says

The redheaded baby brothers who were abducted from Israel on Oct. 7, becoming an international symbol of Hamas' brutality over their nearly two months in captivity, are dead along with their mother, the Palestinian terror group said Wednesday.

The Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military arm, announced the deaths of three Israel hostages, including abducted brothers Ariel Bibas, 4, and Kfir Bibas, who was only 10 months old and had just learned to crawl when he was kidnapped.

Hamas claims the young hostages, and their mother, Sherry Silverman Bibas, were killed in an Israel Defense Force bombing of the Gaza Strip.

The IDF posted a response to the report on X, formerly Twitter, saying they are "examining the reliability of the information" before adding, "The responsibility for the safety of all the abductees and abductees in the Gaza Strip lies fully with the terrorist organization Hamas."

The Bibas family also issued a statement on the claims, which was shared on X. It reads: "Our family is updated on the latest statement from Hamas. We are waiting for military authorities to confirm or, hopefully, refute the news soon. We thank the Israeli people for the warm embrace but we ask to maintain our privacy in this very complex moment."

The brothers' deaths were announced Wednesday via Telegram. Family members revealed earlier today they did not believe any of their family members were on the list of hostages set to be released Wednesday.

Sherry Bibas was kidnapped along with her two sons from Kibbutz Nir Oz near the Gaza border on Oct. 7.

Kfir was the youngest of about 30 children who were taken hostage.

Shiri and her husband, Yaden Bibas, were in their home's safe room when the Hamas attack began. Yaden is believed to still be in captivity.

Hamas has lied or misled about the fate of hostages in the past. Captive Hanna Katzir, 76, who they'd said died in an Israeli air strike earlier this month, was among the hostages Hamas released on Saturday, alive and well.