Correspondent
In the depiction of deep public sadness, thousands of Israelites, many with orange balloons and Israeli flags, coated the roads of southern Israel for the funeral procession of three hostages killed in the captivity in Gaza – Shiri Bibas and her two red -haired sons, Ariel and Kfir.
The Israeli TV channels wore a live Feed scene and – after a private burial – publicly called from relatives, and the crowds gathered for watching on the large screens on the hostage of Tel Aviva.
“This trio settled in my heart and I believe in all our hearts,” a woman called Neta said Channel 12. She said she came from the north to pay a final tribute to the Bibas family in the procession.
“I started this morning at 04:30. I saw that I couldn’t fall asleep, so I headed to the south. I wanted to come here to be as close as possible to the border communities of Gaza, to be a part of this farewell.”
Kfir, nine months old, from Kibbutz Nir Oz, was the youngest of 251 hostages built in the attacks of Hamas on October 7, 2023. His brother Ariel had only four.
The pictures of the two boys became among the most recognizable symbols of the struggle to restore the hostages.
There was a deep anxiety in Israel when he saw that Yarden Bibas, Shiri’s husband, who released Hamas earlier this month without his immediate family.
On Wednesday, Yarden Bibas paid tribute to Shiri, who was 32 years old, as “the most amazing woman and mother,” saying he would always love her.
“I want to tell you everything that is happening in the world and here in Israel,” he continued. “Shiri, everyone knows and loves us. You have no idea how much this madness is.”
Wearing an orange sculptor or skull, he shared touching memories of his children and talked about how he and his wife were happily surprised that their other red -haired boys gave birth.
The residence of the Israeli president was illuminated by oranges – a color that came to represent a family.
At the beginning of the procession, the Bibas family thanked the Israelites for their support and expressed her longing for days “when we can once again gather in moments of joy, not sadness.”
Wrapped in an orange flag to watch the car convoy that pass on the way to the cemetery, Shontal expressed sympathy with the bereaved.
“I wanted to come and be close to them, to express my condolences to Yarden and family. I hope he managed to recover – not only from the captivity he endured, but also from the grabbing and understanding of this terrible tragedy,” she told Channel 12. “His tragedy is ours.”
The persecuted video shiri Bibas was shot during the Hamas attack in southern Israel more than 16 months ago.
He seems terrified as he squeezes his children surrounded by armed men before taking them away from home. A few hours later, surveillance camera shots showed them in Khan Younis.
In November 2023. Hamas said the Israeli air strike in Gaza killed Shiri and her sons. However, this was never confirmed by the Israeli army, which only expressed “serious concern” for them.
Recently, as last week, the Bibas family continued to keep her hope that her mother and her sons could return to Israel. They asked the public to “refrain from bragging our loved ones” until the Government’s Post-M) was completed.
Then, last Friday, after the first surrendering of the remains of the dead hostage Hamas from his deadly attack in 2023, under the terms of agreement on the interruption of fire in Gaza, the news went through that devastated many Israelites.
Bibasa boys were dead and their identity confirmed DNA tests. The Israeli military spokesman said that pathological examinations and intelligence showed that they were killed by their abductors with “bare hands”.
In addition, the remains of Shiri Bibasa were not found in the coffin marked by her name, which was handed over to the Red Cross International Committee.
It is said that instead of containing the remains of Palestinian women from Gaza. Hamas suggested that there may have been mixing after the Israeli bombing.
Two days later, the Bibas family announced that Shiri’s body was returned to Israel and that she was also killed in captivity.
The disturbing confusion over the bodies, along with the gloomy ceremony of the handover for the dead hostages Hamas organized, were among what Israel said that the violations of the truce were, which led to the delay of the agreed release of about 600 Palestinian prisoners last Saturday.
Hamas replied that it was a “serious violation” of Israel, which threw the trial process into a new crisis.
A few hours before the funeral, Israeli and Hamas officials said that the crisis was solved by mediators, and the bodies of four more Israeli hostages are now expected to be returned later on Wednesday or Thursday at the same time when Palestinian prisoners were released.
However, the outburst launched fresh anxiety for relatives of about 60 remaining hostages who remain insecure whether their loved ones – or their bodies – ever be returned from Gaza.
The pledge of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to revenge on the death of the Bibas family only increased his relatives.
The family criticized Israeli media and Netanyahu for ignoring their desires not to publish more details about the circumstances of the death of their loved ones.
In a Facebook post ahead of the funeral, Ofri Bibas Levy, Sister Yarden Bibas, told the premiere to “shut up” after he repeatedly described the killings. She said that the publication of information was “direct abuse of the family that went through 16 months of hell and still has the worst.”
The Bibas funeral came the day after that Odee Lifshitz, who was also from Nir Oz and was 83 years old when he was abducted. His body was also returned last week. Netanyahu said Palestinian Islamic jihad killed him in captivity.
Shiri Bibas and her children were buried in one suitcase next to the last resting place of their parents, Yossi and Margita Silberman, who lived in the same Kibutz and were killed there on October 7th.
A total of about 1,200 people were killed on the most deadly day. This set fire to the most deadly war ever in Gaza, in which more than 48,000 people were killed, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.
At the funeral, Ofri Bibas Levy invited Israeli officials who sought forgiveness for their failure to protect Shiri, Ariel and Kfir that day to be responsible instead.
“Forgiveness means accepting responsibility and obligation to behave differently, to learn from mistakes. There is no sense of forgiveness before being missed, and all officials take responsibility.
“Our disaster as a nation and as a family should not have happened and should no longer be repeated.”
