Former hostage Yarden Bibas broke his silence Tuesday about a chilling personal encounter with Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar,, where he personally appealed to the mastermind of the October 7 attacks.
In an emotional interview with Channel 12 News aired Tuesday evening, Bibas revealed how he asked Sinwar to allow him to remain with his lifelong friend and fellow hostage David Cunio.
“When Sinwar arrived at the tunnel, I said to him that this is my best friend and I want to stay with him,” Bibas recounted. “He said there was no problem, you can stay with him. After around two weeks, they separated us. I don’t know why.”
Bibas and Cunio, friends since first grade, were both kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz during Hamas’s assault. Their unexpected reunion came in November 2023, when Cunio’s wife Sharon and their twin daughters were being prepared for release.
“He passed by me in the tunnel and continued to where he was being held,” Bibas said. “When he saw me for the first time, he was in shock. He thought he was looking at a ghost. I didn’t recognize him at first either, but once I did, I just got up, we hugged, and they hurried him to move on.”
For Bibas, seeing a familiar face came at a time of profound grief, as he had recently learned from his Hamas captors that his wife Shiri and their two young sons, Ariel and Kfir, had been murdered.
“I wanted to be with my closest friend,” Bibas explained. “At first, I was scared to ask to be moved. I didn’t know where he was, whether he was with better or worse people… but after the video Hamas forced him to record, I realized I had to be with David.”
Despite briefly being allowed to stay together, the two friends were ultimately separated despite Sinwar’s promise. Their contact afterward was limited to brief encounters in the tunnels.
“We’d meet occasionally when we passed each other in the tunnel,” Bibas said. “It was always a quick, strong hug and ‘keep going.’”
Bibas was eventually freed during a hostage exchange deal in February 2025, four months after Sinwar was killed in a gun battle with Israeli troops. Cunio, who turns 35 today, remains in captivity, where he is presumed to be alive.
“You can’t really recover,” Bibas admitted. “Because I was there, in the same tunnels he’s sleeping in, on the same mattresses he’s sleeping on. It feels wrong that I have a big bed to sleep in, hot water to shower with, and three meals a day. My best friend doesn’t have a choice.”
“It’s so important they come back. Only then can we start healing, figure out what kind of life is next. I don’t know where I’ll be. I just want to reach the point where I can decide.”
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