Israel has provided no details on killing of Bibas hostages: family

Israeli authorities have not provided relatives with any details regarding the killing of the three Bibas hostages after they were taken to Gaza during the October 7 attack by Hamas militants, the family said in a statement.

"Any publication of details (including references to the treatment of the bodies) is against the family's wishes, and we ask that this be avoided," the statement said.

"The family has not received any such details from official sources," it said, following an Israeli military announcement that the two young sons of hostage Shiri Bibas were killed by "terrorists with their bare hands".

"Any such publication adds deep pain to the family at this time."

Shiri Bibas and her two sons, Kfir and Ariel, were seized by militants on the day of the attack, and their bodies were handed over by Hamas to the Red Cross this week.

Shiri's husband and the father of the two boys, Yarden Bibas, had also been abducted but was released alive earlier this month.

While Shiri's body was positively identified earlier today, the remains of the two boys were verified on Friday.

Hamas has long insisted that an Israeli airstrike killed Bibas and her sons early in the war, which broke out after the October 7, 2023, attack.

However, the military asserts instead that they were killed by militants.

"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," military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a televised statement on Friday.

"Afterwards, they committed horrific acts to cover up these atrocities," he added.

The Bibas family described the deaths of the three hostages as murder but asked that the manner of the death not be shared publically.

"The family requests to cease adding details regarding the fact that Shiri and the children were murdered by their captors," it said.

"Yarden and the family want the world to know this was murder, without delving into any specifics."