The youngest hostages held by along with their mother are dead and their bodies will be returned to this week, the terror group said.

Kfir and Ariel Bibas, were aged nine months and four when they were Kfir never celebrated a birthday in freedom after he and his family were taken. They died aged two and five.

So far Israel has not confirmed the deaths of the boys and their mum Shiri, but did say it had “grave concerns” about their well-being. The children and parents Shiri and Yarden Bibas were kidnapped in the attack by Hamas on Israel where 1,200 people were killed and about 250 hostages taken.

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Hamas said the two children and the mum were killed in an Israeli airstrike early in the war. Yarden Bibas, the husband and father, was kidnapped separately and released this month.

Last year, on January 16, in Tel Aviv, hundreds of people gathered for what was called “the saddest birthday in the ” for Kfir. The infant with red hair and a toothless smile has become a symbol across Israel for the helplessness and anger over the hostages still in captivity in Gaza.

Many people wore orange, a colour inspired by Kfir and Ariel’s hair. They marked Kfir’s birthday with performances by children’s music stars, who wrote a song in his honour, and released orange balloons inscribed with birthday wishes.

Since video emerged shortly after the attack showing the brothers swaddled in a blanket around their terrified mother with gunmen surrounding her, orange has come to represent the family across Israel. But to some relatives, it brings pain as well as hope and recognition.

“They’re supposed to see a lot of colours, but instead he’s seeing just darkness,” said Yosi Shnaider, a cousin of Kfir last year. “He’s supposed to be learning to walk, but he has nowhere to do it. He’s supposed to be able to hold a spoon for the first time, he’s supposed to be tasting so many different foods for the first time.”

But now the worst fears appear to be true with Hamas claiming that the boys and their mum are dead. The terror group’s leader in Gaza, Khalil Al Hayya, said that four bodies of hostages will be handed over on Thursday, while six living hostages, some held for over a decade, will be returned on Saturday.

This was after it was expected that three living hostages would be handed over at the weekend and it is not immediately clear why six are now being returned. It apparently comes in return for Israel allowing mobile homes and construction equipment into the devastated Gaza Strip.

The six are the last living hostages set to be freed under the ceasefire’s first phase. The warring sides have yet to negotiate the second and more difficult phase, in which Hamas says it will release dozens more hostages in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal.

Israel is expected to continue releasing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including many serving life sentences for deadly attacks, in exchange for the hostages. Others were detained without charge. During the first phase, Israel is also due to release all women and children seized from Gaza since the war began.