The two little red-haired boys captured the hearts of the Israelites and became symbols of a long and emotional movement to release dozens of people caught in the October 7, 2023 attack led by Hamas hostage.
A painful country under grey, stormy skies marked an informal day of mourning after Hamas handed over three black coffins on Thursday, the group said the remains of Ariel Bibas He was only 4 years old when he was captured in the Gaza Strip. His younger brother, Kfir Bibas, was not nine months old at the time. Their mother, Shiri Bibas, is 32 years old.
The fourth coffin occupied the remains of eighty-year-old grandfather, Oded Lifshitz, a peace activist and founder of the idyllic Israeli village of Nir Oz, where he and the Bibas family lived.
Always alive when taken away.
During a weird switching ceremony in Gaza on Thursday morning, loud music, the coffin was displayed on the table in Israeli family photos for hostage poster; kfir with wide toothless The smile grabbed a bright pink cute toy; and Shiri Bibas, smiling as the radiation before the family world fell into it.
However, the masked gunman seemed to have mixed the child’s photos with his name.
By the sunset on Thursday, the Israeli National Forensic Medical Center and Israeli police have not completed the identification process for the remains. Only Mr. Lifshitz’s body was positively recognized.
Ms Bibas’s husband and child’s father, Yarden Bibas, were kidnapped separately in the attack on October 7 and injured from the head. This month, he was released as part of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which took effect in January.
But other members of his family tortured the Israelites, highlighting the cruelty that many people think of Hamas.
“Dear citizens of Israel, we are all in sorrow that we cannot bear this day,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a message to a painful country on Thursday. “Today, Israel’s Every home looks up.”
A month after the war began in the Hamas attack, the group’s armed wing Qassam brigade claimed Ms Bibas and her two children were killed in an Israeli air strike. Their fear grew when Israel was not among the mothers and children of other captives released in the week-long ceasefire of the month.
But Israeli authorities have not confirmed their deaths, let alone the situation, but simply say there is “serious concern” about the fate of the hostages.
Relatives held hope until the end.
After Hamas announced on Tuesday that it would release Bibases’ remains, the family expressed anger at the news media of Ms. Bibas and the children, even in Israel, that they had been killed. “
If we receive devastating news, all proof of identity procedures must be achieved through appropriate official channels once they are completed. ” the family said in a statement Wednesday.
The Israeli government did not immediately provide details on the reason for Mr. Elihiz’s death, but said he was “incarnated” by the Islamic Jihad, a smaller Palestinian armed group that has been taking many hostages.
During the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, Hamas handed over the body as part of a series of negotiations. It has released 19 Israeli hostages in recent weeks.
The agreement stipulates the release of 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for more than 1,500 Palestinians imprisoned in Israel during the first phase, which will expire in early March unless it is extended.
The Israeli government said last month that Hamas provided a list showing that 25 of the 33 hostages were alive and eight were killed.
According to Israel, about 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 people were kidnapped in the Hamas-led 2023 attack. Nir Oz is one of the worst-hit communities, with about a quarter of its 400 residents killed or hostages. KFIR is the youngest to be caught.
The attack prompted Israel to declare war against Hamas in a 15-month military campaign and invade Gaza, which killed thousands of Palestinian civilians and combatants and dismantled most of the coastal enclaves. Stay in the ruins.
On Thursday, Israelis stood in the rain and held a quiet vigil along the route as the coffin with a hostage was transferred from Gaza to the National Forensic Medical Center in Tel Aviv.
Mr. Bibass’ cousin Eylon Keshet described Ariel as a boy in November 2023 who likes to be the center of attention and toy tractors and cars. Kfir, he said, is a “cold” baby who has just started eating solid food.
The Hostage Family Forum is an organization that advocates for hostages and their families, describing Ms. Bibas in a statement as a “dedicated mother and accountant known for her infinite kindness.”
The forum said of the hostages who died: “They are more than just names.
