Freed Hostage Describes Meeting Yarden Bibas, Father Of Kfir And Ariel, In A Hamas Cage

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Adina Moshe, who was freed in the November hostage deal after spending 49 days in Hamas captivity, described on Thursday how she saw hostages Yarden Bibas [father of babies Ariel and Kfir Bibas and husband of Shiri] and Ofer Kalderon from Kibbutz Nir Oz held in cages while she was in a tunnel under Gaza.

“There were cages there. I approached, and it was completely dark. I asked, ‘Why are you in a cage?’ and they said they didn’t know. When I asked if they had clashed with Hamas, it turned out they had. During the abduction, they had confronted Hamas,” she recalled in an interview with Army Radio.

“I took a few steps backward, slowly, thinking: ‘Let’s see if the Hamas guards look away for a moment.’ Ofer and Yarden told me their story. I immediately started thinking about what I could do with this information later on,” she added.

Two days later, Moshe said she approached the commander of the unit guarding them. “I told him I heard people speaking Hebrew and that they were from Nir Oz. He asked, ‘From Nir Oz? How do you know?’ I told him to bring them to join us. Two days later, he brought them to us for an hour, then returned them to the cage. The next day, he brought them back for two hours.”

When asked if Yarden Bibas knew what happened to Shiri and the children during the abduction, she explained: “He said that he had left the safe room and confronted the Hamas terrorists. Shiri and the children stayed inside. He told us, ‘I really hope they didn’t get to them, because the terrorists in my house captured me and took me to the meeting point at the kibbutz, and from there, they took me to Khan Younis.’ He believed that for a long time. At some point, I asked Hamas if Shiri and the children were with them. They told me it would take them time to find out. I established a good relationship with Hamas from the beginning, understanding it would be in our best interest.”