---
title: "The October 7 Hostages: Children, Families, and Older Captives"
description: "Yarden Bibas was released on February 1, 2025; his sons Ariel and Kfir were identified among bodies returned later that month, and their mother Shiri remains missing. Elderly captives included Holocaust educator Alex Dancyg and Nir Oz resident Adina Moshe, who survived captivity."
url: "https://hasbara.co.il/resources/hostages-of-october-7-stories-negotiations-and-status/biographical-profiles-the-bibas-family-and-youngest-captives"
type: "resource-page"
locale: "en"
categories: ["Hostages of October 7: Stories, Negotiations, and Status"]
---

# The October 7 Hostages: Children, Families, and Older Captives

*Yarden Bibas was released on February 1, 2025; his sons Ariel and Kfir were identified among bodies returned later that month, and their mother Shiri remains missing. Elderly captives included Holocaust educator Alex Dancyg and Nir Oz resident Adina Moshe, who survived captivity.*

The Bibas family and older residents of southern Israel became among the best-known people abducted on October 7, 2023. Yarden Bibas returned alive in February 2025, Israeli authorities identified the remains of his sons Ariel and Kfir later that month, and their mother Shiri remains missing.

## The Bibas family from Nir Oz

Hamas abducted Yarden Bibas from Kibbutz Nir Oz separately from his wife Shiri and their sons Ariel, then four, and Kfir, then ten months old. Yarden returned to Israel on February 1, 2025, after 484 days in captivity, according to the [Israeli Ministry of Health](https://www.gov.il/he/pages/01022025-02). On February 20, Israeli authorities identified the bodies of Ariel and Kfir after their return. The [IDF statement published by Israel's Foreign Ministry](https://embassies.gov.il/japan/en/node/7872) said the assessment, based on intelligence and forensic findings, was that the boys were murdered in captivity in November 2023. The additional body handed over at the time was not Shiri's, and officials said no match had been found for her.

## Older hostages from Nir Oz

Adina Moshe, 72, was taken from Nir Oz and released on November 24, 2023. In an interview recounted by [The Times of Israel](https://www.timesofisrael.com/freed-hostage-says-she-met-hamas-leader-in-a-tunnel-was-kept-in-dire-conditions/), she said she and other captives walked for five hours through underground passages to a room where they were held. She described small portions of canned food and rice, a room lit by a small LED, and guards nearby.

Alex Dancyg, 75, was a Holocaust educator abducted from Nir Oz. The [biographical account of Dancyg](https://www.timesofisrael.com/alex-dancyg-75-renowned-holocaust-educator-was-wise-and-witty/amp/) records that the IDF announced his death in July 2024 and recovered his body from a tunnel in Khan Younis the following month, along with five other hostages. An IDF investigation determined the six had been shot by their captors in mid-February 2024. Dancyg's life included decades of teaching Polish students about Jewish history and the Holocaust.

## Hostage releases and survivor accounts

For the diplomatic path to releases, see [how Qatar and Egypt mediated releases](https://hasbara.co.il/resources/hostages-of-october-7-stories-negotiations-and-status/qatar-and-egypt-strategic-intermediaries-in-hostage-negotiations); for accounts by survivors, see [what released hostages said about captivity](https://hasbara.co.il/resources/hostages-of-october-7-stories-negotiations-and-status/hostage-testimonies-regarding-hamas-underground-tunnel-conditions).

## Pages

- [How Qatar and Egypt Mediated Hostage Releases](/resources/hostages-of-october-7-stories-negotiations-and-status/qatar-and-egypt-strategic-intermediaries-in-hostage-negotiations.md)
- [What Released Hostages Said About Captivity in Gaza](/resources/hostages-of-october-7-stories-negotiations-and-status/hostage-testimonies-regarding-hamas-underground-tunnel-conditions.md)
- [Hostage-Taking Under International Law](/resources/hostages-of-october-7-stories-negotiations-and-status/legal-analysis-of-hostage-taking-as-a-violation-of-international-law.md)
- [IDF Hostage Rescues in Gaza: Missions and Risks](/resources/hostages-of-october-7-stories-negotiations-and-status/tactical-successes-and-challenges-of-idf-hostage-rescue-operations.md)
- [Sexual Violence Against Hostages: Testimony and Findings](/resources/hostages-of-october-7-stories-negotiations-and-status/documented-evidence-of-sexual-violence-against-hostages-in-gaza.md)

## Sources

- [gov.il](https://www.gov.il/he/pages/01022025-02)
- [embassies.gov.il](https://embassies.gov.il/japan/en/node/7872)
- [timesofisrael.com](https://www.timesofisrael.com/freed-hostage-says-she-met-hamas-leader-in-a-tunnel-was-kept-in-dire-conditions/)
- [timesofisrael.com](https://www.timesofisrael.com/alex-dancyg-75-renowned-holocaust-educator-was-wise-and-witty/amp/)