Youngest Hamas hostage marks first birthday in captivity
Mauricio Schnaider, who is the great uncle of Kfir Bibas, joined 'America's Newsroom' to discuss the family's heartbreaking experience and why they have not given up hope for a safe return.
As the Israel-Hamas war continues to rage, the families of those taken captive by Hamas over three months ago have not yet given up hope of a reunion with their relatives.
Kfir Bibas, the youngest hostage taken from Israel by the terrorist group, just marked his first birthday in captivity. His great uncle told Fox News Thursday that he remains positive about his safe return home.
"We believe they're alive. We hope in our hearts that they're alive, and we are praying," Mauricio Schnaider told "America's Newsroom." "We know nothing. So we are really not giving up, that they are alive, and we want them back… we are going to pray till the last… day that we have them in our hands one way or another."
ISRAELI KIBBUTZ BE'ERI CONFIRMS DEATH OF 2 HOSTAGES SEEN IN HAMAS TERROR GROUP VIDEO
Hamas took Bibas, both of his parents and his four-year-old brother following the terror group's heinous massacre of Israeli border towns on Oct. 7.
Since the family was taken, Israeli officials have been unable to confirm they are still alive in Gaza. Hamas claims the entire family is dead, except for Kfir's father Yarden, but relatives of the Bibas family have not given up hope.
"The problem here is that we're dealing with Hamas. Hamas is not a country. They are a terrorist organization," Schnaider said. "And how do you deal with them?"
"They're evil... They don't want to talk to anybody," he continued.
Despite the harrowing wait for additional information, relatives of Kfir came together to honor his very first birthday on Jan. 18.
Ginger balloons, representative of Kfir's bright hair, and a teddy bear-themed birthday cake with his photo were left at the now abandoned Nir Oz kindergarten.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
"A one-year-old is celebrating his first birthday underground. Maybe on dirt," Schnaider said. "It's one of the happiest days for a parent, for a human being is to celebrate the one-year-old birthday."
Hamas is still believed to be holding 130 of the original 240 hostages in captivity, including six Americans. Their conditions remain unknown.
"It was hard to fall asleep, let's put it like that," Schnaider said. "Because the first thing when I fell asleep was closing my eyes to see in the image with two redhead babies. That's the first image I saw… So I couldn't close my eyes because of the image that impregnated my brain."
"So I wanted to fall asleep, and when I fell asleep, it was okay, but when I got up, that's when the nightmare starts," he continued.
An additional ceremony was planned for Thursday for supporters and families of hostages to come together at "Hostages Square" in Tel Aviv, according to The Times of Israel. The poster for the ceremony labels it as the "saddest birthday in the world."
Fox News' Jamie Joseph and Ashlyn Messier contributed to this report.