War between Israel and Hamas: symbolic birthday of Kfir Bibas, the youngest hostage in the Gaza Strip

He is one of the sad symbols of the war between Israel and Hamas. The youngest of the hostages abducted on October 7, 2023, Kfir Bibas, is due to celebrate his first birthday this Thursday.

He must, because his fate remains uncertain. Hamas announced his death, along with those of his brother and their mother, in a bombing in late November. Israel, for its part, has not confirmed this information about the family, whose father was also kidnapped.

The collective of hostage families “Bring them home now” (Bring them home now, in French) wants to keep hope alive around this child. At Nir Oz, a kibbutz near the Gaza Strip, he organized a symbolic birthday party for Kfir Bibas, who was kidnapped when he was almost nine months old.

“Responsibility lies with Hamas”

In France, this initiative is supported by the Crif (Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France). “He had to blow out his first candle surrounded by his family in their home on Kibbutz Nir Oz. Kfir will not blow out the candles. He has been held hostage by Hamas since October 7 along with his parents and brother Ariel,” he wrote.

Last year, the IDF, the Israeli army, recalled that “responsibility for the safety of all those abducted in the Gaza Strip rests entirely with Hamas.”