Baby Bibas Militants also seized about 250 hostages during the October 7 attacks, around 132 of whom Israel says remain in Gaza.At least 27 hostages are believed to have been killed, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.Families of the captives have spearheaded a campaign to get them home, pressuring the government which has said their return is one of its war aims.A group of hostage relatives protested at Israel’s Kerem Shalom border crossing with Gaza on Thursday demanding that aid deliveries be blocked until their loved ones are released.Kfir Bibas was less than nine months old when militants snatched him from his bed on October 7.In November, Hamas broadcast a video announcing the death of the baby, his brother and mother. But there has been no confirmation from Israeli officials, and relatives have since clung to the hope that they are not dead.Thursday would have been the first birthday of Israel’s youngest hostage and hundreds of people gathered in Tel Aviv to mark the occasion, releasing bunches of balloons.West Bank violence surgesIn the West Bank, violence has escalated to a level not seen since the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, of 2000-2005.Israeli troops and settlers have killed more than 360 Palestinians in the West Bank since October 7, according to the territory’s health ministry.Palestinian health officials reported a sixth death in a two-day Israeli operation in the northern city of Tulkarem and its refugee camp.The man shot dead in the camp was a civilian not involved in fighting between Israeli forces and militants, local official Rami Elyan told AFP.The Israeli army said troops had killed “at least eight terrorists” in Tulkarem and returned fire while they were working to “uncover roads where explosive devices were planted”.In the latest flare-up to unsettle the Middle East, Iranian state media said Pakistani strikes on a border region killed nine people on Thursday. Pakistan said it had targeted militants.This followed a rare Iranian air strike late on Tuesday, that Iranian media said targeted a jihadist group which has claimed repeated deadly attacks on security forces in recent months.Late Wednesday, US forces said they conducted a fourth round of strikes on areas of Yemen controlled by Iran-backed Huthi rebels who have disrupted shipping in the commercially sensitive Red Sea.
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