They will remain together forever... Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, Ariel and baby Kfir, who were killed in the Gaza Strip, are buried in a single coffin at the Tsocher cemetery in the Nir Oz kibbutz.
The family was abducted during the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Ariel was four years old, and Kfir was only nine months old. The father of the family, Yarden Bibas, was also taken captive. He was released in early February as part of a ceasefire agreement with Hamas.
During the mourning ceremony, Yarden Bibas delivered a heartbreaking speech about his life shattered by absolute evil. Israeli President Isaac Herzog paid tribute to the memory of the slain hostage and her two sons.
"Today, the entire country and the whole nation are experiencing grief and mourning, engulfed in pain and tears. At a time when two little lambs — golden babies — are finally returning to their mother, back to us, back home. And we — all of us — as a whole nation with broken hearts, accompany them to their final resting place. Dear God, this is not the return we prayed for," Herzog wrote on his platform.
The funeral was held privately (government officials and the public were asked not to attend), but it was broadcast via a video channel that was simultaneously relayed by all major Israeli television networks. Tens of thousands of people lined the procession route. Many held orange balloons or wore orange clothing in tribute to the redheads — Ariel and Kfir.
The bodies of Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas were returned as part of the ceasefire and hostage release agreement between Israel and Hamas.
According to estimates from Israeli officials published after the identification of her body, Shiri Bibas was brutally murdered by her captors in November 2023 along with her sons.
IDF representative Daniel Hagari stated that, according to the findings of pathologists, Ariel and Kfir were intentionally, brutally, and cold-bloodedly killed. "Hamas lies that the children died as a result of an Israeli airstrike. The examination showed that they were coldly murdered by terrorists who didn’t even shoot the boys but killed them with their bare hands," Hagari said.