Relative of 10-month-old hostage distraught over family’s continued detainment
Aunt of Israeli hostages Yifat Zailer pleads for the release of her family, including a 10-month-old baby boy.
Hamas' youngest hostage, 10-month-old Kfir Bibas, has been handed over to another terrorist group in Gaza along with his family, according to the IDF, and the news is leaving a distraught relative to plead for her loved ones' safe return.
"I can't say we are surprised about the level of cruelty and inhumane behavior from Hamas in this deal, in this cease-fire," Yifat Zailer, cousin of Kfir's mother, Shiri, told "FOX & Friends" on Tuesday.
"They signed an agreement to release all women and children. Tomorrow is the last day supposedly of this cease-fire, of this agreement as it was signed. And there is still no news about my family, if they'll be returned or not."
4-YEAR-OLD AMERICAN GIRL AMONNG 17 HOSTAGES RELEASED BY HAMAS
Kfir Bibas (Bring Them Home Now)
Before Zailer's appearance, FOX News foreign correspondent Trey Yingst told the show hosts that there is concern that young children such as Kfir could be used as leverage by Hamas.
The hostage situation presents an especially difficult dilemma for the Bibas family, as Zaailer said Kfir still needs his mother to feed him and the terrorist group separated women from children.
"We haven't [had] any intelligence pointing out [that they are together]," she said.
"We do know that they were kidnapped separately. Then the father was kidnapped first, and then they entered the house, the safe room. He went outside to protect his family and was hurt and kidnapped. Then they [Hamas] entered inside and found Shiri, my cousin, and her two children and kidnapped them as well. So, we don't know if they're together. We can only assume by hearing the evidence from the freed members of the same kibbutz where they lived that they say that they separated men and women."
HAMAS TERRORISTS USE ISRAELI HOSTAGE RELEASE IN GAME OF PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE
Ofri Bibas Levy, whose brother, Yarden, was taken hostage with his wife, Shiri, and two children, Kfir and Ariel, holds pictures of the family along with her friend, Tal Ulus, during an interview with Reuters. (Reuters / Denis Balibouse / File)
Kfir is in the custody of another terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip along with his 4-year-old brother, Ariel, and parents Shiri and Yarden. The IDF did not specify which terrorist organization is detaining them now.
The Bibas family was taken from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz during the Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israeli residential areas that left nearly 1,200 dead in the country. Approximately 240 Israelis and foreign nationals were taken back to Gaza as hostages.
War has since raged, with the exception of a cease-fire agreement, which Zailer believes should continue until all hostages have been released.
Still, she is aware that Hamas could be stalling and taking advantage of the situation.
Tensions, meanwhile, remain high.
"We've heard rumors that Hamas promised a reward for everyone who brings back someone from Israel, so there's a lot of different interests," Zailer said. "I'm not a politician. I'm not a military general. I'm a family member. My heart is broken."
"Every family that you see … they have no home to go back to. Nothing that they knew from their previous life exists. So, every family lost someone. Some of those children come back, and now they're hearing that their father died, or their uncle died or their grandparents died. Entire communities got, may I say, deleted."
FOX News' Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.
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