Just like they had after October 7, 2023, Ariel and Kfir Bibas' little red-haired faces reappeared on the front pages of Israeli newspapers. On Friday, January 17, the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas was approved by the Israeli government that evening, and was due to take effect at 8:30 am local time two days later, with first wave of hostage releases scheduled for that Sunday. The young Bibas children – they were 8 1/2 months and 4 years old when they and their parents were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz – topped the list of 33 people likely to be released during the first of the agreement's three phases. A total of 98 hostages were still being held in the Palestinian enclave, 34 of whom had been declared dead by the Israeli army.

In Israel and elsewhere, the children's plight had spurred compassion in 2023, especially after a video was broadcast, which showed their mother holding them close to her in a blanket during the kidnapping. Today, however, no one has dared to rejoice at their reappearance in media coverage, as the uncertainties surrounding the agreement's implementation still loom large.

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