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Most child hostages are back in Israel. Redheaded brothers Kfir and Ariel Bibas are still in Gaza.
TEL AVIV (JTA) — Surrounded by dozens of orange balloons representing the red-haired Bibas children held hostage in Gaza for 53 days, their aunt Ofri Bibas addressed their captors in Gaza.
“This is your enemy? Kfir, a 9- 10-month-old baby? Ariel, a 4-year-old boy?” she asked, adjusting Kfir’s age to reflect the milestone he has reached as a hostage. “Is kidnapping children in line with Islamic values?”
Kfir and Ariel became an early face to the hostage crisis on the morning of Oct. 7, when Hamas released a video clip showing them being abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz along with their mother Shiri, whose terror was visible. Their father Yarden Bibas is also thought to be a hostage in Gaza. Now, after five days of hostage releases as part of a truce deal returned dozens of other children to Israel, the Bibas brothers are the youngest and perhaps most prominent children remaining in captivity.
Ofri Bibas, Yarden’s sister, was speaking in “Hostage Square,” a public space outside the Kirya military headquarters that has become a gathering place for the hostage families and their supporters. Tens of thousands of Israelis flooded the space last week before the truce deal and again on Saturday when Hamas delayed the release of a batch of hostages.
Orange balloons have become a symbol of the Bibas family because of the abducted children’s red hair. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
On Tuesday, there were fewer people present — about 150. But in a powerful display, the crowd called orange balloons — to honor Kfir and Ariel’s red hair — instead of the yellow balloons that have been a hallmark of the movement to free the hostages.
“We thank all the people in Israel for the enormous support and hugs we are getting,” Ofri Bibas said in the wake of five consecutive days of anguished waiting, in which many prayed and hoped in vain for the Bibas family to appear on the daily list of released hostages. Even while her family’s reunification has not yet occurred, she noted that “the ceasefire allowed the return of people who became a part of our family and we are glad for each and every one that came back to his family.”
An IDF spokesman said Monday that Hamas said it had transferred the family to the custody of another terrorist group in Gaza, saying that was the reason that the children and their mother had not yet been released. Ofri Bibas said the family was not satisfied with that explanation.
“Hamas took them and Hamas is required to bring them back right now,” she said. “They’re responsible for their health and their freedom is directly in Hamas’s hands and responsibility.”
Ofri Bibas sat alongside Dana Siton, sister of Shiri Bibas, and Arab-Israeli pro-Israel activist Yosef Haddad. Hadded translated the family’s statement into Arabic in an effort to appeal directly to Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, who have been involved with the hostage negotiations.
Shiri Silberman-Bibas and Kfir Bibas are visible in footage taken by Hamas after they were taken captive on Oct. 7, 2023. (X)
“We ask for their intervention in releasing our family and all the other hostages and to bring in the Red Cross to give medical care,” Ofri Bibas said.
One of the protest attendees was Ruth Musael, a 78-year-old Australian-Israeli who moved to Israel in 1969. “I have tried to keep busy during this horrific and heartbreaking situation,” she said while holding an orange balloon. “Together with the joy and relief each day is full of tension,” she described the last few days, adding that “it is impossible to comprehend what these families are going through.”
After Haddad finished his translation of the family’s remarks in Arabic, he led the crowd in a bilingual chant of “now” in Hebrew and Arabic. Then Ofri Bibas instructed the crowd to release the orange balloons “with the hope that they reach …” she started, before pausing. “With the hope that our prayers reach all the way to Gaza.”
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The post Most child hostages are back in Israel. Redheaded brothers Kfir and Ariel Bibas are still in Gaza. appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.