In a major shocker, Israel on Friday said, citing forensic reports that the Bibas brothers, whose corpses were returned by Hamas, were killed with 'bare hands' by Hamas days after they were held captive in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) alleged that after killing the two babies in 'cold-blood', Hamas tried to cover up the horrific acts.
"Ariel and Kfir Bibas were murdered by terrorists in cold blood. The terrorists did not shoot the two young boys--they killed them with their bare hands. Afterwards, they committed horrific acts to cover up these atrocities," Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari who said in a statement.
The Israel Defence Forces said Friday that forensic examinations have revealed that Palestinian terrorists murdered children Ariel and Kfir Bibas 'with their bare hands' weeks after their kidnapping on October 7, 2023.
"We can confirm that baby Kfir Bibas, just 10 months old, and his older brother Ariel, aged four, were both brutally murdered by terrorists while being held hostage in Gaza no later than November 2023. These two innocent children were taken hostage alive, along with their mother, Shiri, from their home on October 7, 2023," IDF Spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a televised statement.
The IDF statement came hours after it was discovered that Hamas had not returned the body of the boys' mother Shiri Bibas, and instead sent the body of a Gazan woman and later claimed that there had been a mix-up with the bodies during an Israeli airstrike, Times of Israel reported.
R. Adm. Hagari said the evidence clearly showed that they were not killed in an airstrike as Hamas claimed.
"Contrary to Hamas's lies, Ariel and Kfir were not killed in an airstrike. Ariel and Kfir Bibas were murdered in cold blood by terrorists," he said.
US National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz expressed outrage over the killings calling the murders 'pure evil' and strongly affirmed that 'Hamas must be destroyed'.
Waltz wrote on X, 'The Bibas children were murdered at the hands of Hamas and NOT accidentally bombed. Pure evil. Keeping the Bibas family and all Israelis in our prayers for this unspeakable violence. Hamas must be destroyed.'
R. Adm. Hagari added that the children were killed in Gaza 'no later' than November 2023 -- a month after Hamas's October 7 massacre in Israel.
NY Post said that Shiri's husband and the boys' father, Yarden Bibas, was also taken hostage but he was later freed, alive, by Hamas on February 1.
Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also expressed deep anguish over the death of the Bibas brothers.
In a statement, while holding the picture of Ariel Bibas and Kfir, Netanyahu said, "Here is a photo of the Bibas brothers. These perfect children, again, were four years old and less than one year old when the Hamas savages snatched them from their mother's arms."
"She fought like a lioness to protect her boys. Just imagine their horror. Imagine their confusion. Perfect little children who never hurt a soul. A baby, for the love of God. They languished in captivity until Hamas murdered them in cold blood. Who kidnaps a little boy and a baby and murders them? Monsters. That's who," Netanyahu added.
He added, "And as the Prime Minister of Israel, I vow that I will not rest until the savages who executed our hostages are brought to justice. They do not deserve to walk this earth. Nothing will stop me. Nothing. Ariel, Kfir and Oded: I am so sorry we couldn't save you from the monsters who did this. We honor your kind and loving souls, so tragically cut down by evil terror."
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