Face-to-Face with Sinwar: Freed Hostage Yarden Bibas Breaks Silence on Harrowing Tunnel Life

In an emotional and deeply personal interview with Israel’s Channel 12 News, recently freed hostage Yarden Bibas shared for the first time his chilling face-to-face encounter with Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader responsible for orchestrating the October 7 attacks. Bibas, who was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz along with his wife Shiri and their two young sons, Ariel and Kfir, described appealing directly to Sinwar during captivity in Gaza’s tunnels.

“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 his best friend, David Cunio, friends since first grade, were both taken hostage by Hamas in the October assault. Their unexpected reunion took place in November 2023, shortly before Cunio’s wife Sharon and their twin daughters were released.

“He passed by me in the tunnel and continued to where he was being held,” Bibas recalled. “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.”

At the time of their reunion, Bibas had already been informed by his captors of the devastating fate of his family, his wife and two sons had been murdered. That grief made his bond with Cunio even more critical.

“I wanted to be with my closest friend,” Bibas said. “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 Sinwar’s verbal agreement, the two were ultimately separated again after a short time. Their subsequent contact was limited to brief and emotional moments in the dark labyrinth of 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 released in February 2025 as part of a hostage exchange deal, just four months after Yahya Sinwar was killed in a gun battle with Israeli forces. Cunio, who turned 35 this week, remains in Hamas captivity, where he is believed to still 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.”

Bibas closed the interview with a plea that underscored the emotional and moral urgency of securing the release of the remaining hostages.

“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.”