Outrage over Hamas Murders of Bibas Family, Hostage Treatment, Prompts Israel to Delay Prisoner Release
JERUSALEM, Israel – President Donald Trump's special envoy to the Middle East is on his way back to the region to press forward on ceasefire and hostage talks after Israelis experienced a grueling week with the return of four hostage bodies and six living hostages.
Israel put the release of some 600 Palestinian prisoners on hold to protest Hamas' brutal murders of hostage Shiri Bibas and her young children, Ariel and Kfir, whose bodies were examined by medical authorities upon their return. Israel is also protesting the way the terror group has humiliated other hostages at staged handover ceremonies in Gaza.
The latest outrage is a Hamas propaganda video showing it brought two hostages to Saturday's release of six other hostages, then didn't free the two.
In the Knesset, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held up photos of the slain Bibas's and asked Israeli lawmakers never to forget.
“This photo says it all," Netanyahu declared, "and I ask you will engrave it on your heart, to always remember what are we fighting against and against who we are fighting.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X that Hamas' treatment of hostages, including its brutal murder of the Bibas family, further illustrates their savagery and is yet another reason why we are saying these terrorists must release all of the hostages immediately or be destroyed."
Critics are ripping into The Associated Press for how it's framing the Bibas killings.
Democrat Congressman Richie Torres (D-NY) posted on X, "The terrorists of Hamas murder an infant and a child, as well as a mother, in cold blood and with their bare hands. The AP chooses to whitewash the baby killers, calling them 'militants' rather than terrorists and claiming the children 'died' – rather than were murdered – in captivity. Disgraceful."
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) wrote, "Hamas murdered these hostages. They didn't just 'die in captivity,' as if by natural causes. Why does AP want to sugarcoat this?"
President Trump weighed in after the latest freeing of six more hostages on Saturday. He noted, "They're coming back in pretty bad shape. It's a horrible thing. And many are dead. Many are dead. So, we'll see how that all ends up."
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There's talk of extending phase one of the ceasefire deal to get more hostages freed as soon as possible. Talks for phase two are expected this week.
Mideast Envoy Steve Witkoff stated on CNN, "We do expect it, Jake, to go forward. We have to get an extension of Phase One. And so, I'll be going into the region this week – probably Wednesday – to negotiate that."
However, Trump's National Security Advisor Mike Waltz told Fox News that all is threatened by Hamas' horrifying actions.
"This behavior over this last week, with these children, with how these people have been released, this propaganda, absolutely is affecting the prospects of negotiations," Waltz intoned.
He added, "Hamas needs to change, and change yesterday, in how it's conducting this. It's unacceptable – not just to the Israelis, but to the entire world."
Meanwhile, after thwarting a terror plot last week to blow up at least 15 Israeli buses, the Israel Defense Forces are ramping up efforts to destroy the growing terror threat coming from Judea and Samaria, the so-called West Bank.
Netanyahu noted, “For the first time in decades in Judea and Samaria, tanks have entered. This means one thing, we fight terrorism by all means and everywhere."
On another front, Israeli military jets flew over and frightened attendees at the funeral for former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, slain in an Israeli airstrike back in September. The military added insult to injury by releasing the video of that deadly and massive airstrike on the same day as Nasrallah's funeral.
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