Israel’s army has said it is investigating a report by Hamas that a 10-month-old baby hostage, his four-year-old brother and their mother were killed in Gaza during its military offensive, AFP reports.

The military was “assessing the accuracy of the information”, it said in a statement.

“Hamas is wholly responsible for the security of all hostages in the Gaza Strip,” it added. “Hamas’s actions continue to endanger the hostages, which include nine children.”

The Bibas family are among the highest-profile hostages seized in the Hamas attacks on southern Israel on October 7, due to the age of baby Kfir.

The statement from the Israeli military came after Hamas announced that Kfir, his brother Ariel and their mother Shiri were killed in an Israeli bombing in the Gaza Strip before the current pause in fighting went into effect.