After 104 days in Hamas’s captivity, the youngest hostage, Kfir Bibas, turned one year old on Thursday.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog presented a photo of the toddler’s face in front of the World Economic Conference in Davos, Switzerland, marking a year since his birth. Herzog and his wife, Michal, participated in the conference as part of the Israeli effort to free the hostages.
Herzog stated that he is not shying away from the human tragedy in Gaza but that Israel needs to defend itself from terror. He also said that he’s praying the medicine brought to Gaza in the Qatari-French deal will reach the hostages.
Today is Kfir Bibas’s 1st birthday.He was abducted aged nine months. He has now been a hostage of Hamas for one-quarter of his sorry life. pic.twitter.com/fiRYBacHlL
— Eylon Levy (@EylonALevy) January 18, 2024
Bibas was kidnapped with his entire family from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz when he was only nine months old. Approximately a quarter of his life has been held captive by a terrorist organization.
Bibas is the youngest hostage currently being held by Hamas.
Advertisement
The Rishon Lezion and Tel Aviv municipalities will light up the City Hall in both cities in orange, matching the color of his hair, N12 reported.
His birthday was celebrated by community members wishing for his return
Earlier this week, Kfir’s birthday was celebrated at Kibbutz Nir Oz’s children’s home, with the community members wishing for his return together with his mother, Shiri, his father, Yarden, and his brother Ariel. Dozens of orange balloons were released in honor of the Bibas family, i24 News reported.
Last week, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, marked Kfir’s birthday on the stage of the UN General Assembly, presented a cake in his honor and said: “I ask that Kfir’s birthday cake remain on the podium as a painful memory of the baby who spent a quarter of his life in captivity.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
