In a significant revelation, outgoing Head of Israel’s Hostages and Missing Persons Headquarters Major-General Nitzan Alon has disclosed that the prominent Bibas family was not actually abducted by Hamas during the October 7th attacks. Speaking exclusively to Yedioth Ahronoth, Alon stated that Israeli authorities had identified the actual captors as the Mujahideen Brigades, a smaller Palestinian faction, and had communicated this information to Hamas leadership to assist in recovery efforts.
The Bibas family—comprising 34-year-old Yarden, his 32-year-old wife Shiri, and their two young sons, four-year-old Ariel and nine-month-old Kfir—became one of the most emotionally charged symbols of the captivity crisis. Tragically, Shiri and the children died while held in Gaza, though conflicting accounts persist regarding their cause of death. Israeli officials previously claimed Hamas fighters killed them directly, while Hamas maintains they perished in Israeli airstrikes.
Alon elaborated on the complex operational challenges, noting that Hamas faces ‘genuine difficulty’ in locating remaining captives due to ‘the chaos on their side immediately after 7 October.’ Despite these obstacles, Israel maintains belief in the possibility of recovering the last missing individual.
The broader context reveals staggering numbers: 251 people were initially abducted during the October attacks. Through various ceasefire agreements and diplomatic gestures, 168 captives returned alive to Israel, while 87 were confirmed dead in captivity—many under contested circumstances involving Israeli military actions. In exchange, Israel released 3,985 Palestinian prisoners.
Currently, at least 9,250 Palestinians remain detained in Israeli prisons, with nearly half held under indefinitely renewable administrative detention orders without formal charges or trial. Israel’s practice of withholding information about detainees from Gaza suggests the actual figure may be substantially higher.