Four and a half months have passed since Hamas announced the death in Gaza of hostages Shirin Bibas, 32, under Israeli bombs. There is no official Israeli confirmation of these deaths nor have the bodies of the mother and the only two children of the total of 133 kidnapped children been recovered.

"We have no sign of life from them, except what Hamas said on the last day of the (November ceasefire) agreement, that they had been killed. We still don't know if it's true," says Yarden Bibas' sister, Ofri. The group symbolically celebrates the Jewish Passover festival, which begins on April 22, and commemorates the return of this people from the Egyptian desert. They do it in the kibbutz dining room with the long tables ready but devoid of diners. Almost a quarter of its 400 residents were killed (51) or kidnapped (36) in the attack on the agricultural community of Nir Oz on October 7. The four members of the Bibas family were kidnapped in Nir Oz during the massacre in which Palestinian fundamentalists murdered around 1,200 people in Israeli territory. Israel has already killed almost 34,000 Palestinians in the Strip. The main focus of attention on the part of the international community is on trying to stop the escalation between Iran and Israel. The negotiating channels are maintained for a cessation of hostilities that opens the door to an exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, but it does not seem that the agreement will be reached shortly.Join EL PAS to follow all the news and read without limits. Back to the page you came from. Follow us on Twitter @elpais and on Facebook at El Pasquillo and @ElPasco.