Israeli general says Bibas family was not abducted by Hamas

An Israeli major-general has said that the Bibas family was not abducted by Hamas on 7 October 2023.

Speaking to Yedioth Ahronoth, Nitzan Alon, the outgoing head of Israel’s Hostages and Missing Persons Headquarters, said Israel had informed Hamas which group seized the Bibas family to help locate them.

Four members of the family - 34-year-old Yarden, his wife Shiri, 32, and their two sons, four-year-old Ariel and nine-month-old Kfir - were taken captive during the 7 October attacks and held in Gaza.

They were abducted by a small faction known as the Mujahideen Brigades.

The fate of the Bibas family became an especially emotive case for Israelis during the war on Gaza.

Shiri and the two children died while in captivity. Israel said they were killed by Hamas fighters by hand - an account that does not correspond with Alon's comments.

Hamas said they were killed in air strikes.

Yarden and the bodies of his wife and children were returned from Gaza during the February prisoner exchange.

“Take the Bibas family, for example. We knew who abducted them,” Alon said. 

“We informed Hamas who the kidnappers were so they could locate the bodies and return them.”

Alon added that Hamas is facing “a genuine difficulty” in locating the body of the remaining captive held in Gaza. 

“The difficulty stems from the chaos on their side immediately after 7 October,” he said.

However, he added that Israel believes it is still possible to bring him back.

During the 7 October attacks, Hamas and other Palestinian groups and individuals kidnapped 251 people from Israel.

In the immediate aftermath, Israel launched a sweeping arrest campaign across the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, adding to the thousands already held in Israeli jails.

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A total of 168 captives were returned to Israel alive, including two people held in Gaza before the war. 

Most were released in ceasefire deals, some were freed as gestures to the United States, Russia and Thailand, or due to Israeli military operations.

In exchange, 3,985 Palestinians were released from Israeli prisons.

Another 87 Israelis were either captured dead or died in captivity. Many were killed by Israeli fire or air strikes, while others died under various - often contested - circumstances. 

All were returned except one. They were exchanged for around 400 Palestinian bodies who died in Israeli custody.

At least 9,250 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli prisons, though the true figure is likely higher, as Israel withholds information on hundreds seized from Gaza.

Nearly half of all Palestinian detainees are held without charge or trial under indefinitely renewable administrative detention orders.