On Tuesday morning, reports came out that Hamas was returning the bodies of some of the most prolific hostages abducted on October 7, after the terrorist organization perpetuated an attack against Israel. In addition to brutally killing 1,200 Israelis, Hamas terrorists engaged in torture, rape, and kidnapping, taking approximately 250 people hostage. There are still many who remain in captivity, though others have died and their bodies are just now being released. The bodies of Shiri Bibas, as well as her two children, Kfir, who was only 9 months old when taken hostage, and Ariel, who was only 4 years old, are among those being released on Thursday. The tragedy of their murder and countless other innocent victims is upsetting enough, but the mainstream media's sanitized coverage adds further insult to injury.
Such news came out Tuesday morning, with Israel later confirming the tragic update. The confirmation is now a trending topic on X for Wednesday afternoon. Shiri's husband, Yarden Bibas, who is also the boys' father, had been part of a hostage/Palestinian prisoner exchange on February 1. Regarding the news, the mainstream media has behaved abominably. We're not just talking about the usual suspects like BBC and the Associated Press, though we'll get to them shortly. Rather, ABC News used some rather curious language.
The Israeli government has confirmed the Bibas family, Shiri Bibas and her two tiny children Ariel Bibas and Kfir Bibas, were murdered after they were taken hostage by jihadist savages into Gaza. pic.twitter.com/vOWnuVICNO
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) February 19, 2025
מחר יהיה יום מאוד קשה למדינת ישראל. יום מטלטל, יום של יגון. אנחנו מחזירים הביתה ארבעה מחטופינו האהובים, חללים.
— Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) February 19, 2025
אנחנו מחבקים את המשפחות, והלב של אומה שלמה נקרע. הלב שלי נקרע. גם שלכם. וצריך שהלב של כל העולם יקרע, כי פה רואים מול מי יש לנו עסק, עם מה יש לנו עסק, עם איזה מפלצות.… pic.twitter.com/c1OYZo1WEN
Palestinians repaid the kind, liberal Jewish man who drove Gazans to hospitals in Israel by burning down his home, taking him and his wife hostage, and then torturing and murdering him in captivity.
— Marina Medvin 🇺🇸 (@MarinaMedvin) February 19, 2025
His body will be returned tomorrow, they say. pic.twitter.com/arqvZXtBzc
In a "BREAKING" on Tuesday, ABC News spoke about the fate of "four deceased hostages." In addition to the three Bibas family members, the body of Oded Lifshitz, an 84-year-old retired Israeli journalist, described as a "peace activist" and one who drove Gazan children to the hospital, will be returned. These are among the youngest and oldest captives taken hostage by Hamas approximately 500 days ago.
"BREAKING: Hamas will release the bodies of four deceased hostages on Thursday and six living hostages on Saturday, Hamas and Israel confirmed," read the post in part, with added emphasis that certainly drew attention.
"Hamas to release 6 more hostages, bodies of 4 others," the headline for the accompanying piece read.
Although the ABC News piece makes mention of six living hostages to be released, it's merely their names mentioned. There is no mention of the Bibas family or Lifshitz. If anything, the piece relies heavily on information from Hamas. Granted, it was Hamas that first spoke to the release of the bodies and living hostages, but this goes beyond that:
Hamas accused Israel of procrastinating and evading engaging in the negotiations of the second phase and said it is ready to engage in negotiations to implement the terms of the second phase of the ceasefire agreement.
Negotiations over the second phase of the agreement have not yet started, but mediators are pushing to have talks begin as soon as possible to allow enough time for discussion before the second phase is expected to begin, according to Qatar's foreign ministry.
Qatar said the use of humanitarian aid as a negotiation card is a crime and called for a full entry of aid to Gaza, with a lot of aid still at the border waiting to enter, according to a spokesperson for the Qatari foreign ministry.
Last week, Hamas threatened to not release hostages over the weekend, saying Israel was not holding up its end of the ceasefire by delaying the return of displaced Palestinians to northern Gaza, allegedly targeting them with gunfire and slowing down aid and said the hostage-prisoner exchange would be postponed.
Hamas later said the exchange will take place as planned and released three hostages on Saturday. The three hostages freed from captivity were U.S. national Sagui Dekel Chen, Iair Horn and Sasha Troufanov.
The post has been thoroughly ratioed, with 2,600 replies to 318 likes. As many pointed out, the four hostages were not merely "deceased," but rather senselessly murdered. The deaths of some of Hamas' youngest victims and oldest are particularly tragic, especially when one considers Lifshitz was rewarded for helping Gazans in such a cruel way. Let's also not forget that Hamas terrorists murdered countless other children and elderly Israelis, including babies and Holocaust survivors, on October 7, 2023.
Deceased, yes. Why are they "deceased", exactly?
— DiscoMephisto (@DiscoMephisto) February 18, 2025
Any chance you left out the detail that they were murdered? Seems at least a little relevant.
Here are three of them. That were murdered. pic.twitter.com/h77jd7ncl6
Deceased, yes. Why are they "deceased", exactly?
— DiscoMephisto (@DiscoMephisto) February 18, 2025
Any chance you left out the detail that they were murdered? Seems at least a little relevant.
Here are three of them. That were murdered. pic.twitter.com/h77jd7ncl6
The people who are paid to use precise words to record every event are suddenly at a loss to find the right word to describe Hamas murdering hostages.
— Joel M. Petlin (@Joelmpetlin) February 18, 2025
"Deceased" was a deliberate and very poor choice by ABC.
They were butchered by Hamas. Your passive tense in this piece, says all we need to know about you.
— Deebs (@DeebsFLA) February 18, 2025
The quoted replies are even more damaging and also include commentary from members of Congress, like Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT).
“Deceased”
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) February 18, 2025
“Dead”
Do you mean “murdered,” @ABC?
Civilian hostages, little children, murdered by the evil, brutal scum of Hamas. https://t.co/EQV4fHDnPm
What’s wrong with you, @ABC ? Words matter. At a time when public trust in the media is at an all-time low, one would expect accuracy to be a priority. These hostages aren’t simply “deceased” or “dead” – they were MURDERED by terrorists. Get it right. Do better. https://t.co/7xPywwdouQ
— Sorolle idels 🎗️ (@IdelsSorolle) February 18, 2025
What an utterly shameless headline dripping in cowardice. Four “deceased hostages.” I need to sign off this platform tonight because I am so utterly disgusted with @ABC I am likely to say something I regret. Good God is this an affront to “journalism” (air quotes intended.) https://t.co/r5y2yebeIv
— Mike Maples, Jr (@m2jr) February 19, 2025
But again, it's not merely ABC News. As one user, Tracy-Ann Oberman, posted when calling out ABC News to correct the outlet by pointing out how the hostages were "murdered," she also tagged BBC News, Sky News, and Channel 4 News out of the United Kingdom.
MURDERED @ABC - MURDERED. take note @BBCNews @SkyNews @Channel4News MURDERED https://t.co/0LsNOAjvGQ
— Tracy-Ann Oberman (@TracyAnnO) February 18, 2025
On Tuesday, before Israel confirmed the news of the three Bibas family members, BBC News published a piece on the update, "Hamas says it will return bodies of four hostages including Bibas family." While the headline does at least mention the Bibas family, it's not worth getting too excited about.
Just as ABC News failed to do, there's no mention of how the Bibas family or Lifshitz were murdered. In fact, the piece even provides an explanation from Hamas about the Bibas family's fate, noting, "Hamas alleges that the three were killed in Israeli bombardment. Israel has not confirmed this."
Rather than correctly refer to Hamas as terrorists, except in direct quotes from Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, the piece mentions that the hostages were "held by the Palestinian armed group."
The piece also relies on Hamas in other ways, including until the very last sentence, which uses numbers Hamas touts for propaganda purposes:
[Khalil] Al-Hayya said Hamas would also release six living hostages on Saturday – double the number originally planned.
In exchange, Israel will free all women and those under the age of 19 arrested since last October and is allowing some rubble-clearing equipment into Gaza through the border with Egypt.
In a statement, al-Hayya said the group had agreed "handing over four bodies of the occupation prisoners on Thursday 20 February, including the bodies of the Bibas family".
Hamas claimed in November 2023 they had been killed in an Israeli air strike, without providing evidence. Israeli officials have said only that they are gravely concerned for their lives.
...
Hamas has said it is ready to release in one go all the hostages due to be freed in phase two of the ceasefire deal with Israel.
But a Hamas spokesman made clear that the offer involving more than 60 remaining hostages was dependent on a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and an agreement for a permanent end to the war.
Hamas also rejected Israel's demand for its disarmament and removal from Gaza.
...
Some 251 hostages were taken by Hamas when it attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, killing about 1,200 people.
Israel responded with a 15-month military offensive that killed 47,460 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry, and devastated the coastal enclave.
This is hardly the only way in which the BBC has sanitized coverage of the horror of October 7. The outlet has even memorialized terrorist leaders.
The Associated Press has been no better, including and especially when it comes to memorializing terrorist leaders. "Israel confirms four dead hostages who will be returned from Gaza include young family," read one headline from Wednesday.
One particularly telling passage highlights how it's Israelis who care about the Bibas family. "For many Israelis, the family has come to symbolize the plight of those taken captive," one sentence read, though the young family's plight and tragic outcome for three of the four family members have captivated the world.
