BABY Kfir is the face of Israel’s “Are the kids coming home for Christmas?” campaign to demand the release of the last children stolen by Hamas.
The billboard offensive kicked off as the terror group today vowed that no more hostages will be freed until the devastating war in Gaza comes to an end.
8
8
8
In New York’s Times Square, a smiling picture of the ginger-haired 10-month-old has been plastered across a giant billboard for all the world to see.
Across North America, almost 250 billboards will display the faces of Israeli hostages snatched by Hamas almost 11 weeks ago.
The campaign, also called “Punch in the Stomach”, will centre on Israel’s youngest hostage in a bid to increase public outrage towards Hamas’s hostage-taking tactics.
Kfir Bibas, his brother Ariel, 4, and mother Shiri, 32, have not been seen or heard from since they were carted off screaming by Hamas terrorists on October 7.
In late November, Hamas claimed that all three were killed in an Israeli air strike. Israel said it is still investigating these claims and has provided no confirmation they are dead.
It comes as “intensive” talks took place this week in Cairo to discuss a possible ceasefire agreement to secure the release of the last women, children and elderly men still held captive.
The talks initially ground to a halt when Hamas rejected Israel’s offer for a week-long truce in exchange for 40 hostages.
The US said “serious negotiations” continued on but Hamas was resolute in its demands for a longer ceasefire period.
And today, hopes of an agreement were extinguished when Hamas declared there will be no hostage deal until the war ends.
In a statement, the Iran-backed terror group said: “There is a Palestinian national decision that there should be no talk about prisoners or exchange deals except after a full cessation of aggression.”
However, Israel has repeatedly vowed to push on with its invasion until Hamas is completely “eliminated”.
Earlier this week, US President Joe Biden said “there’s no expectation at this point” of an impending hostage deal but “we’re pushing it.”
Over 240 hostages were taken during Hamas’s bloody killing spree in southern Israel on October 7, that left 1,200 slaughtered.
There are roughly 108 hostages still alive in Gaza, including 19 women and two children, Israel claims.
A temporary truce deal in late November saw 105 returned to Israel before fighting resumed on December 1.
Four hostages were released prior to that, and one hostage rescued by troops.
The bodies of eight hostages have also been recovered, as well as those of three hostages mistakenly killed by the IDF.
Hamas has claimed not all the hostages are under their control and Israeli intelligence claims that baby Kfir is among those handed to other terror factions.
Speaking about the tear-jerking billboard campaign, Moriya Shalom, the director of Israel’s government advertising, said: “This campaign feels to us all like a punch in the stomach.
“The plight of Kfir Bibas, screaming in chilling cries, captures a raw emotional truth that resonates universally. It’s a story that transcends borders and compels attention.”
It comes as Israel ferociously pushes on with its offensive into southern Gaza as they close in on Hamas’s top brass, including “Gaza’s Bin Laden”, Yahya Sinwar.
Today, Israel said its operations in Khan Younis, dubbed “The Ring of Fire”, led to the death of the Hamas officer in charge of commanders who took part in the October 7 attacks.
The IDF said they had found dozens of terror tunnels, which is where Sinwar is believed to be holed up deep underneath the rubble of southern Gaza.
Israel has taken over much of Gaza City in the north, where Israel claimed to have destroyed an “underground terrorist city” once used by Hamas’s senior leadership.
It also said its troops had taken control of the “Elite Quarter” in the heart of Gaza City.
Israel, shielded by the United States, has resisted international pressure to scale back its offensive and has said it would press on until Hamas’s control of the Strip is over.
The military has said that months of fighting lie ahead in southern Gaza, an area densely packed with the majority of the enclave’s 2.3 million people who earlier fled the fighting in the north.
With homes destroyed, they are living in crowded shelters and struggling to find food, fuel, water and medical supplies. Diseases are spreading, and communications have been repeatedly cut.
The November truce allowed aid to finally enter Gaza to help alleviate the crippling humanitarian disaster sweeping across the Strip.
Those aid deliveries all but stopped when the fighting resumed, leaving the population dangerously close to famine, the UN says.
The Hamas-run health authorities in Gaza claims that over 20,000 have been killed since Israel began its relentless bombardment and invasion of the densely-populated enclave.
This includes 8,000 children and 6,200 women.
Israel disputes these figures, while US President Joe Biden previously said he had “no confidence” in them.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has admitted that Israel has “not been successful” in reducing civilian casualties.
8
8
8
8
8
Credit Gist New Today News in Newspaper Nigeria Headlines
