'Bring my family back. Bring my friends back' - Former hostage Yarden Bibas urges Netanyahu to 'bring everyone home' from Gaza

The recently released Israeli hostage Yarden Bibas urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday to bring his family back from captivity in the Gaza Strip. His wife Shiri and two young children, Ariel and Kfir, have been held by the Hamas terrorist organization since Oct. 7, 2023.

"Netanyahu, I'm now addressing you with my own words, which no one dictated to me: Bring my family back. Bring my friends back. Bring everyone home," Bibas said.

"My light is still there, and as long as they're there, everything here is dark," he continued, referring to his family. "Thanks to you, I was brought back – help me bring the light back to my life," he urged the Israeli prime minister.

Following his release, Bibas also noted that he was surprised to learn about the resilience of the Israeli people after 16 months of war.

"On October 7, 2023, I was kidnapped from Israel. On February 1, 2025, I returned to a different country,” Bibas said. He was released together with hostages Ofer Calderon and Keith Siegel.

He thanked fellow Israelis for their strong support for him and his family.

"I want to thank you for the strength you gave my family and friends. They told me about everything you did for me and my family, and 'thank you' is not big enough to express my gratitude to you," Bibas said.

He praised the “unity of our amazing nation and urged Israelis not to "wait until the next disaster to be united."

Bibas concluded by thanking Israeli military forces, which he described as "heroes, each and every one of you." He stressed the need to "continue the fight to bring everyone back," referring to the remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza.

It is unclear whether the hostage Shiri Bibas and her sons Kfir and Ariel are still alive after nearly 500 days in captivity in Gaza.

Hamas claimed in November 2023 that Shiri and her young sons were killed in an Israeli aerial strike on terror targets in Gaza. Israel Defense Forces have not been able to verify the claim and their status is currently unclear.

The tragic fate of the Bibas family became a symbol of the inhumane nature and cruelty of Hamas. Yarden, who was separated from his wife and children, revealed that the terrorists would torment him about the status of his captured family.

The Israeli government recently demanded that Hamas provide information about Shiri and their children.

Relatives of the Bibas family noted in January “that Shiri and the children are among the first to be released,” referring to the 33 Israeli hostages to be released in the first stage of the internationally brokered ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

“We are waiting for certainty about their release and their conditions and are asking that no one reach out to us in this sensitive time,” they continued. “We are asking not to lend a hand to spreading rumors. We address the prime minister and continue the demand to release them all, until the final hostage.”

The Israeli government has expressed grave concerns for Shiri and her children, as women, the elderly, and ill hostages were supposed to be released first. With Hamas now releasing male hostages, fears are growing that Shiri, Kfir and Ariel may no longer be among the living hostages.