Hamas claims 10-month-old hostage Kfir Bibas killed alongside family in Israeli airstrike

Hamas has claimed the youngest Israeli hostage they captured during the October 7 terrorist attacks has been killed at just 10 months old in an IDF airstrike.

The announcement, which has not been verified, came from Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas.

They claimed that three Israeli captives, Kfir Bibas, his bother Ariel Bibas, four, and their mother Shiri Silverman Bibas, 32, had died.

It comes one day after family members made a desperate plea for the youngster's release.

The three family members were abducted by Hamas from their home in a southern Israeli kibbutz on the day of Hamas' attacks.

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The boys' father, Yarden Bibas, was also taken captive, with photos showing him to have been potentially wounded.

Neither Hamas nor Israel have yet verified the claims, with reports that Al-Qassam's announcement claimed they died as a result of Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip.

The Israel Defence Forces issued a statement on the claims, in which it said: "IDF representatives spoke with the members of the Bibas family, informed them of the publication [of the claims] and are with them at this time."

The IDF also said it was looking into "the reliability of the information".

The statement added that responsibility for the hostages' safety laid solely with Hamas, and repeated its demand for those being held in Gaza to be returned.

Relatives of the Bibas family put out a special appeal for their loved ones' freedom after Shiri and her two children were not included in the penultimate group of hostages released on Tuesday.

Families of hotsages set for release in the final group on Wednesday had been informed of who was being freed.

But officials did not say at the time whether the Bibas family was among them.

Soon after Hamas launched their attack on October 7, a video emerged of Kfir and Ariel wrapped in a blanket around their mother as gunmen surrounded Shiri.

The announcement comes just days after Kfir's family were told he may have been passed on by Hamas to another group within Gaza.

Talks between Israel and Hamas continue in an effort to extend the ceasefire allowing hostages to be traded for Palestinian women and minors held in Israeli jails.

The announcement of Kfir's death has been met with some skepticism, especially after one of the women Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) claimed had died was released on the first day of the ceasefire.

PIJ said that Hanna Katzir had died in captivity in an apparent example of grim psychological warfare.

But Hanna was later freed along with twelve other women and children on the first day of the truce.