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The family of the youngest Israeli hostage in Hamas captivity fear the 10-month-old, his brother and their mother will not be released before the current truce expires.
The Bibas family have called on Qatar, which mediated the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, to intervene to help to free Kfir, his four-year-old brother Ariel and their parents.
Shiri and Yarden Bibas, together with their two small children, were abducted by Hamas gunmen from the frontier kibbutz of Nir Oz last month.
“Tomorrow is the last day of the ceasefire. Today, our family, Shiri and the boys still are not on the list and we demand the Israeli government and Qatar and Egyptian negotiators do whatever they can,” Ofri Bibas Levy, a sister of Yarden Bibas, told reporters on Tuesday.
“We demand that they be included on the release list for tomorrow, if not for today. They can’t stay there anymore.”
On Monday, the Israel Defense Forces accused Hamas of preventing the release of Kfir and claimed the terror group had handed him over to another militant faction in the southern city of Khan Younis.
All other children under five have already been freed.
The IDF mostly operated in the north before it ceased fighting on Friday as part of the truce. The delay in releasing Kfir could suggest that Hamas may be using the infant as leverage in talks to further extend the ceasefire.
The two boys and their parents are believed to be held by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
“Don’t let the baby stay another day in captivity,” Aylon Keshet, the cousin of Yarden Bibas said on Tuesday.
“Do not let Hamas keep using them as bargaining chips.”
A video circulated online showed a desperate Shiri clutching Kfir and Ariel in her arms as she was surrounded by the gunmen. Another video showed Yarden with an apparent head injury surrounded by Hamas attackers.
Talks are under way to extend the ceasefire again although Israel has not committed to a longer break in fighting in Gaza.
William J. Burns, the director of the CIA, flew to Qatar on Tuesday to meet with its prime minister and the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence service for a meeting “to build on the progress of the extended humanitarian pause agreement and to initiate further discussions about the next phase of a potential deal”, a source briefed on the visit told Reuters.