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Ritchie Torres Calls for Hamas to Be ‘Eradicated’ Following Group’s Announcement of Bibas Children Deaths
Ofri Bibas Levy, whose brother Yarden (34) was taken hostage with his wife Shiri (32) and 2 children Kfir (10 months) and Ariel (4), holds with her friend Tal Ulus pictures of them during an interview with Reuters, as the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas continues, in Geneva, Switzerland, Nov. 13, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
US Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) on Tuesday called for Hamas to be “eradicated from the face of the earth” after the Palestinian terrorist group said that its two youngest hostages, Kfir and Ariel Bibas, would be among the four Israeli bodies returned to the Jewish state later this week as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal.
Hamas announced that it would release the bodies of four hostages to Israel on Thursday, including two-year-old Kfir Bibas and his five-year-old brother Ariel. They were nine months and four years old, respectively, at the time of their abduction. The body of their mother, Shiri Bibas, is also expected to be included in Thursday’s hostage releases.
“The cold-blooded murder of an infant is as barbaric a crime against humanity as one can commit. Hamas has murdered the Bibas family, including Kfir who was only 9 months old at the time of his abduction,” Torres posted on social media in response to the news.
The Bibas brothers and their mother were among the roughly 250 hostages taken captive by Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists during their Oct. 7, 2023, rampage across southern Israel, which also included the murder of 1,200 people. Their father, Yarden Bibas, was also abducted but was released by Hamas earlier this month.
“A terrorist organization that murders babies in cold blood cannot be allowed to stand. Hamas must be removed from power and eradicated from the face of the earth,” Torres wrote.
Torres, a progressive lawmaker from a heavily liberal and Democratic district, has emerged as a stalwart ally of Israel. Since his arrival in the US Congress, Torres has been highly outspoken against antisemitism, oftentimes criticizing fellow liberals over their unwillingness to combat bigotry against the Jewish community. Torres has criticized efforts to withhold arms from Israel and has repeatedly called for the immediate release of hostages from Gaza.
The fate of the Bibas family has long loomed over the consciousness of the Jewish state in the 16 months following the Hamas-led Oct. 7 slaughters. Both Bibas siblings, the two youngest individuals taken captive by Hamas, have been prominently featured on Israeli promotional materials bringing attention to the remaining hostages in Gaza.
Hamas declared in November 2023 that the Bibas siblings had been killed as a result of an Israeli airstrike. Hamas did not present evidence for its claim.
Israel has not confirmed the accuracy of the Hamas announcement regarding the Bibas family.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Bibas family said it had not received confirmation from Israeli authorities on Hamas’s declaration but was “in turmoil” waiting for news about their loved ones.
The post Ritchie Torres Calls for Hamas to Be ‘Eradicated’ Following Group’s Announcement of Bibas Children Deaths first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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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.