Released in hostage Yarden Bibas was mocked by his Hamas captors about the fate of his wife and children during his almost 16 months in captivity, his return to Israel reported on Saturday, the Hebrew media reported on Saturday in Israel.
Bibas, 35, was released by Hamas on Saturday morning with Ofer Calderon, 54, in a transfer from Khan Younis from the south of Gaza. The American-Israeli hostage Keith Siegel, 65, was released almost two hours later at the port of Gaza City.
Bibas was injured and removed from Kibbutz Nir Oz in October 7, 2023, invasion of Hamas and massacre in southern Israel.
His wife Shiri and their two sons were taken separately. At the time, Kfir was 10 months old and Ariel was four years old.
A few hours after their abduction, a video circulated from Shiri, holding the two boys in her arms, a look of terror on her face when she was surrounded by terrorists, her boys in front of her chest, a blanket covering them. The images have become a symbol of the cruelty of the assault led by Hamas.
Hamas said last year that Shiri and the two children had been killed in captivity, and although Israel did not confirm the complaint, it expressed a “serious concern” for their fate and last week would have demanded that Hamas clarifies their state, in vain.
On the return from Bibas to Israel on Saturday, the public broadcaster Kan reported that he had been subjected to serious psychological abuses throughout his captivity, including an incident in which he had been forced to film a video after his kidnappers told him that his wife and young children had been killed in an air strike from FDI.

Yarden, Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas (courtesy)
Hamas agents would constantly speak to him about his family, Kan reported, adding that he “clung to hope” of their fate.
Freed hostage Nili Margalit, who spent almost 50 days in captivity of Hamas, revealed in December 2023 that she was with Bibas when Hamas terrorists told her that his wife and two young children had been killed and had him Ordered to film a video in which he blamed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for refusing to return their bodies to Israel. He was described as an IDF “propaganda video”, and was not published by Israel Media.
During the 484 days he spent in captivity, Bibas was transferred from one place to another to Khan Younis, moving between houses and tunnels, according to the report. He learned Arabic and spent the first days of his captivity held alongside Calderon.
The two men were subjected to physical and mental violence, Kan said, and they were beaten by terrorists and put in cages. However, they declared that they had watched the campaign of the campaign in Israel for the release of the hostages, and were able to draw strength and hope.
After his release, the cousin of Bibas, Oriah, told Channel 12 that he had lost weight and that his family hoped one day to see the smile again.
Calderon, an Israeli -French Israeli national, was treated by his kidnappers as a soldier from the TSAhal reserves, Kan reported. This treatment was obvious during the liberation of Calderon because it seemed dressed in military style clothes, similar to the outfits carried by the five TDI soldiers published in recent days.
According to the report, Calderon was treated by his kidnappers as a TDI reservist soldier, as we see during his release, when he was dressed in military style clothes.

Israeli of Ofer Calderon, who has been held by Hamas in Gaza since October 7, 2023, walks next to the armed men of Hamas before being returned to the Red Cross to Khan Younis, Southern Gaza Strip, Saturday, February 1 2025. Photo / Abdel Kareem)
Calderon was removed from Kibbutz Nir Oz as well as two of his four children Erez and Sahar, who were then released during a one -week truce in November 2023.
When he was released, his mother Kochi told Channel 12 news that he looked “more or less well”, even if “a little thin and pale”.
Kan said that Calderon had asked the FDI soldiers who accompanied him to Israel for a beer, but it was advisable not to do so until his health has improved.
While Bibas and Calderon took place in the south of Gaza, the American-Israeli citizen Siegel took place in Gaza City with other hostages, Kan reported.
He was mainly moved from home to house, but spent some time in the underground tunnel network of the terrorist group, according to the report. His kidnappers kept him out of sight by locking him in a room. He spent several months in uncertain captivity of knowing if his son Shai had survived the attack of Hamas against Kibbutz Kfar Aza. Finally, however, he heard him about the radio.
According to the report, Siegel said that food was extremely rare. His kidnappers occasionally gave him meat, which he ate despite a vegetarian because he knew he needed it to survive.

The hostage released Keith Siegel is given to the TSAhal troops in the Gaza Strip on February 21, 2025 (Israeli Defense Forces)
The report added that he had received food for the last time about 24 hours before his release.
The families of liberated hostages said that their loved ones were frequently informed that they “came home tomorrow” and that their kidnappers would give them food and would withdraw it again.
The constant taunts meant that when the hostages were finally informed that they were going to be released in the context of the cease-fire agreement, they did not think that their captors were telling the truth until the last minute, reported Channel 12.
Similar testimonies would have been shared by the five Thai hostages published Thursday outside the framework of the ceasefire agreement, which also claimed that their kidnappers would give them false hope by telling them from time as their liberation was imminent.
Some of the released hostages have been subjected to strong violence, said Channel 12, and was handcuffed. Some have been placed in cages to “oppose terrorists” and others were held in wet tunnels with little air for long periods.
The media also reported on Saturday that one of the female hostages published earlier in the current ceasefire agreement had assessed that Hamas did not seem to have been seriously injured by the war with Israel.
The liberated hostage said that she and the other captives had been gently transferred from home to house; There was only one mess when she saw another hostage in the street. Overall, she said that she had the feeling that Hamas was managed professionally.
Until now, 13 Israelis have been released as part of the cease-fire release agreement, which imposes the release of 33 so-called “humanitarian hostages” during its first 42-day phase.

The Israelis are looking at Keith Siegel from the captivity of Hamas in Gaza, at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv. (Adar Eyal / Hotages Family Forum)
While these hostages are gradually released, Israel must release some 1,904 Palestinian security prisoners, more than 100 of which serving perpetuity for deadly terrorist attacks. Ninety security detainees must be released on Saturday, nine of which are considered terrorists in the service of life.
The subsequent stages of the three -phase agreement are subject to negotiations with the declared objective of reaching a “lasting calm” in the enclave, in parallel with the release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza, to the release of prisoners of Palestinian safety and an Israeli withdrawal from the band.
The second stage of the three -part agreement is supposed to lead to the release of all the remaining living hostages not included in the first step – mainly men of struggle let go within the framework of the agreement.
The talks on the next step should start at the latest on February 3, 16 days after the entry into force of the agreement. Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump is expected to meet at the White House on February 4.
The released hostages are part of 251 Israelis and foreigners kidnapped on October 7, 2023, when some 3,000 terrorists led by Hamas burst into Israel, killing some 1,200 people, in the midst of crawling acts of brutality and manifest targeting civilians.