Young Children Taken Hostage on October 7: The Bibas and Cunio Families
Among the 251 hostages taken into Gaza on October 7 were infants and toddlers, including Kfir Bibas (9 months old when taken) — the youngest known hostage — and his brother Ariel (4). The Cunio family's toddler Emma (3) was separated from her parents for 10 days. Kfir, Ariel, and their mother Shiri were confirmed killed in captivity. Yarden Bibas (father) was released in 2025.
The October 7 attack produced the largest hostage-taking in Israeli history. Among the 251 people brought into Gaza were children — including an infant who became a symbol of the crisis internationally.
The Bibas Family
Yarden Bibas, his wife Shiri, and their two sons — Ariel (4) and Kfir (10 months) — were taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7. Kfir, born in January 2023, was the youngest known hostage. His red hair became widely recognized in the global campaign for hostage release.
The family was separated almost immediately after entering Gaza. Yarden was held separately from Shiri and the children.
February 2025: Yarden Bibas was released as part of a hostage exchange. Israeli authorities confirmed the deaths of Ariel and Kfir after Hamas returned remains on February 20, 2025; the body initially returned as Shiri's was not hers (it was a Gazan woman), and Shiri's remains were returned the next day. Following forensic examination, the IDF and Israel's National Center of Forensic Medicine said Ariel and Kfir were killed by their captors no later than November 2023 and found no evidence of airstrike injuries; Hamas's claim that they died in an Israeli airstrike is contradicted by those findings. These are Israeli official findings shared with foreign partners.
The return of Kfir Bibas's body — a 10-month-old — generated enormous coverage internationally.
The Cunio Family
David Cunio and his family were taken hostage from Kibbutz Nir Oz. David Cunio was abducted with his wife Sharon Aloni Cunio and their 3-year-old twin daughters Emma and Yuli. Sharon and the twins were released on November 27, 2023; David was held until October 13, 2025 (738 days). The 10-day separation account comes from Hen Mazzig's post and has not been independently verified.
The separation of a 3-year-old from her parents for 10 days in an active war zone, held by a terrorist organization, was documented by Hen Mazzig (an Israeli-Tunisian public figure) and others in the international campaign for the hostages' release.
Children as Hostages: The Deliberate Policy
The abduction of infants and toddlers was not incidental to the October 7 attack — it was documented by Hamas's own footage and by the detailed planning maps recovered from killed fighters. Hamas fighters had lists of kibbutz residents by household; the decision to take entire families including babies was a choice.
The use of children as hostages served multiple Hamas strategic purposes:
- International media leverage (images of children generate asymmetric emotional response)
- Bargaining chips for a prisoner exchange weighted toward Hamas's favor
- Demonstration of total willingness to violate international humanitarian law
Under the 1949 Geneva Conventions, the taking of civilian hostages is a war crime. The taking of children as hostages is additionally addressed under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which the Palestinian Authority is a signatory.
