Special correspondent
Kfir and Ariel Bibas were last seen on October 7th with her mother Shiri’s hands around them, holding on to her boys surrounded by armed and violence, trying to protect them. She couldn’t.
According to the Israeli army, Kfir and Ariel’s last moments were in the “bare hands” of their kidnappers.
How to eulogize children who barely lived their lives?
Kfir Bibas, a hostage at just nine months, did not live to make his first steps or celebrate his first birthday.
Ariel Bibas has only experienced four years of life, which was supposed to be much longer.
Kibbutz Nir Oz’s statement, from where the boys were taken hostage, described Kfir as “a calm and smiling baby, with ginger hair and laughter that would make anyone melt. Wherever he left, he lit him with his smile and joy.”
Ariel, they said, was “a playful boy with ginger hair, curious eyes and a big smile. He adored superheroes, tractors and cars, and he ran, climbing and exploring the world.”
Two brothers became the biggest symbol of hostage nightmares the Israelis endured. Bringing home the Bibas family was an ardent hope in the country.
For the last 16 months, they have been remembered, prayed, kept in the hearts of people, not only in Israel, but also Jews and others around the world.
The pictures are divided from boys in their Batman costumes with Ariel’s robe flying in the wind; from his older brother Ariel hugging his brother Kfir when he was born; Kfira hugged and swallowing as his father Yarden played with him.
And then the picture stuck in the head since Hamas’s attack on October 7th: boys who squeezed on his mother Shiri Bibas, his face tortured in fear, while they were surrounded by weapons and took them to Gaza.
No one in Israel wanted this region; Where Kfir and Ariel returned, not to their innocent childhood, but with their gentle age but ended. And where their mother who protected them until the last moment did not even come back with them.
There is a common pain and sadness in Israel.
In the video statement, the Prime Minister said that Ariel and Kfir Bibas and 84-year-old Odeed Lifschitz, whose body was also returned on Thursday, was “brutally killed by Hamas Savages”.
Keeping a picture of a boy, Benjamin Netanyahu said: “Today is a tragic day. It is a day of boundless sadness, indescribable pain.
“Their bodies return home to the nation in mourning. A nation that will never forget and never forgive the evil that has reduced these beautiful souls … Bibas children especially become a symbol of who we are and against whom we fight.”
Netanyahu said, “Who the kids’ abduction to a little boy and a child and kills them? Monsters. That’s the one.”
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said in the statement: “Agony. Pain. Our hearts – the hearts of the whole nation – lie in the Tatters.” He asked for forgiveness on behalf of the country that he had not protected them and brought home.
Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas were 32 years, four and nine months when they were abducted during the October 7th.
About 1,200 people – mostly civilians – were killed in attacks, and 251 others taken to Gaza as hostages. Israel has launched a massive military campaign against Hamas in response, which was killed at least 48,297 Palestinians – mostly civilians – according to the Hamas Ministry.
This week, in Israel and abroad, people on social networks posted pictures of broken orange hearts to present boys with striking ginger hair.
On Thursday, while vehicles with bodies of Bibas and Oded Lifschitz moved to Israel, the people who covered the streets with Israeli flags shouted “Sorry”.
In October 2023. Just a few weeks after they were abducted, the aunt of Bibas brothers spoke with the BBC.
Ofri Bibas Levy described that Kfir was just starting to crawl and eat solid food.
“They are civilians and they should not be there. The longer they are there, the harder it will be to recover them and the less chance they will come out alive,” she said.
On Friday, she wrote on Facebook: “I’m sorry Luli [Ariel]Sorry Firfir [Kfir].
“You have not deserved any of this. We will miss us forever. We don’t give up your mom Shiri.”
In the video, she added: “Shiri, Ariel and Kfir lived a killer terrorist organization, and was the responsibility and obligation of Israel to return them to the living.
“There is no forgiveness for ABANDONING THEM ON OCTOBER 7 AND NO FORGIVENESS for ABANDONING THEM IN CAPTIVITY. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, we did not recouve an apology from you in this painful moment. For Ariel and Kfir’s Sake, and for Yarden’s Sake They are not looking for revenge at the moment.
Yarden Bibas, who was only recently published as a hostage, now has to bury her two young boys, and his wife Shiri has still not returned Hamas.
In Israel, they quote words that resonate painfully: “The smallest coffins are the hardest.”
