In short, the IDF killed most of the Oct 7 Israeli hostages.
Oct 7
Senior Israeli official acknowledges that the IDF killed most of the hostages and denies official propaganda about the Bibas family
In December 2025, statements by Major General (ret.) Nitzan Alon, former head of the Hostage and Missing Persons Unit of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), have blown apart the fraudulent narrative that the Israeli state has maintained for over two years regarding the death of the hostages captured on October 7, 2023. Alon unambiguously admitted that the majority of Israeli hostages who died in Gaza were not killed by Hamas, but under the indiscriminate and criminal fire of the IDF itself, the result of a lethal combination of intelligence failures, operational negligence, and a military doctrine that prioritizes total destruction over the lives of its own citizens (The Cradle, 2025; Yedioth Ahronoth, 2025; Anadolu Agency, 2025; Times of Israel, 2025; Middle East Monitor, 2025).
This confession shatters the systematic disinformation campaign of the Netanyahu government, which for years exclusively blamed Hamas for every hostage death and turned tragedies like that of the Bibas family into a propaganda tool to justify the continued massacre of tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza (Middle East Monitor, 2025; Palestine Chronicle, 2025; Middle East Eye, 2025; Ynet News, 2025).
“Friendly fire” massacre: the truth Israel hid
Alon was explicit: most of the hostages who were moved alive to northern Gaza, especially Jabalia, died under massive Israeli bombings of buildings where they were known or suspected to be held, without the IDF having precise information about their location (The Cradle, 2025; Anadolu Agency, 2025; Yedioth Ahronoth, 2025; Yeni Şafak, 2025; Mizan Online, 2025). These attacks were carried out with incomplete intelligence, serious identification errors, and complete disregard for the consequences, turning the Israeli forces themselves into the main executioners of their kidnapped compatriots (The Cradle, 2025; Palestine Chronicle, 2025; Times of Israel, 2025). Released hostages have repeatedly stated that the greatest terror they felt in captivity was not Hamas, but the Israeli bombings surrounding them day and night (The Cradle, 2025; Times of Israel, 2025).
The Bibas case: cynical propaganda built on a deliberate lie
The most devastating point in the interview was the revelation about the Bibas family, turned by the Israeli propaganda apparatus into the ultimate symbol of “Hamas barbarity.” Alon confirmed that the IDF knew from the beginning that Shiri Bibas and her two young children, Ariel (4 years) and Kfir (9 months), were not kidnapped by Hamas, but by the Mujahideen Brigades, a smaller Palestinian group without direct control by Hamas (Ynet News, 2025; Middle East Monitor, 2025; Middle East Eye, 2025; The Jewish Chronicle, 2025).
Despite knowing this reality, the Israeli state allowed — and encouraged — Hamas to be publicly accused of their murder for over two years, displayed their photos worldwide, and used their image to mobilize support for a war of extermination in Gaza (Itón Gadol, 2025; Ynet News, 2025; Middle East Eye, 2025; Washington Post, 2025; UN Documents, 2025). They even cynically asked Hamas to mediate with the real captors to locate the bodies, while continuing to lie to the Israeli people and the world about who bore responsibility (Ynet News, 2025; Times of Israel, 2025; Middle East Monitor, 2025).
A pattern of manipulation and deliberate sacrifice
Alon’s statements are not an isolated slip: they expose a modus operandi where the lives of the hostages themselves were consciously sacrificed for broader political and military objectives. The narrative of “Hamas kills them all” served to silence any internal criticism of the scorched-earth strategy in Gaza, to reject truces, and to justify a campaign that international experts have classified as genocidal (Middle East Monitor, 2025; Anadolu Agency, 2025; Palestine Chronicle, 2025; Times of Israel, 2025).
It is now revealed that Israel not only spectacularly failed to protect its citizens on October 7, but then used them — alive or dead — as pretexts for a disproportionate revenge war, systematically lying about the real causes of their deaths and emotionally exploiting cases like the Bibas children while knowing the truth (Ynet News, 2025; Middle East Eye, 2025; The Jewish Chronicle, 2025; Mizan Online, 2025).
Nitzan Alon’s words confirm what many have been denouncing for months: that the greatest enemy of the Israeli hostages was not always Hamas, but a state willing to sacrifice them on the altar of its propaganda and its project of ethnic cleansing in Gaza (Palestine Chronicle, 2025; Middle East Monitor, 2025; Anadolu Agency, 2025; Yeni Şafak, 2025).
References
Anadolu Agency. (2025, December 9). Most Israeli hostages killed by army fire in Jabalia, Gaza, ex-commander says.
Itón Gadol. (2025, December 7). Israel blamed Hamas for the death of Shiri Bibas and her children despite knowing Hamas did not abduct the family.
Middle East Eye. (2025, December 5). Israeli general says Bibas family was not abducted by Hamas.
Middle East Monitor. (2025, December 8). Hamas did not hold Bibas family says Israeli general exposing Israel’s propaganda.
Mizan Online. (2025, December). Israeli general reveals most hostages killed by Israeli forces.
Palestine Chronicle. (2025, December 9). Former Commander Reveals: Israeli Army Fire Killed Captives in Northern Gaza.
The Cradle. (2025). Ex-Israeli official confirms ‘majority’ of captives in Gaza’s Jabalia killed by friendly fire.
The Jewish Chronicle. (2025, December 11). MP accused of spreading conspiracy theory about the Bibas family.
Times of Israel. (2025, December 9). Former hostage point man says Hamas faces ‘objective’ hurdles in search for last body.
Washington Post. (2025, February 20). Bibas family bodies returned from Hamas; Shiri’s body not identified, IDF says.
Yedioth Ahronoth. (2025, December 8). Ex-IDF hostage czar: Israeli fire killed most captives in Jabaliya due to intel gaps.
Yeni Şafak. (2025, December 9). Ex-Israeli commander says army fire killed most hostages in Jabalia.
Ynet News. (2025). IDF hostages chief: ‘We told Hamas who abducted Bibas family to help locate them’.
