Yarden Bibas being led by Hamas captors at the time of  his release in Gaza’s Khan Younis, on Saturday

Agencies JERUSALEM

Released hostage Yarden Bibas was taunted by his Hamas captors about the fate of his wife and children during his nearly 16 months in captivity, Hebrew media outlets reported on Saturday upon his return to Israel on the 14th day of the ceasefire-hostage deal.

Bibas, 35, was released by Hamas on Saturday morning along with Ofer Calderon, 54, in a handover in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis. Bibas was wounded and abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz during the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack in southern Israel, which triggered the 15-month war.

His wife Shiri and their two sons were taken separately. At the time, Kfir was 10 months old and Ariel 4. Hamas claimed last year that Shiri and the two children had been killed in captivity. Israel has not confirmed the claim.

Upon Bibas’s return to Israel on Saturday, the Kan public broadcaster reported that he had been subjected to grave psychological abuse throughout his captivity. Bibas was taunted by his Hamas captors about the fate of his wife and children. Freed hostage Nili Margalit, who spent nearly 50 days in Hamas captivity, revealed in December 2023 that she was with Bibas when Hamas terrorists told him his wife and children’s death. They forced him to film a video in which he “accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of refusing to return their bodies to Israel”.