Bibas family funerals: Israelis pay last respects to hostage mother and sons killed in Gaza

In southern Israel, thousands of mourners gathered along the roadsides to bid farewell to three Israeli hostages murdered during their captivity in Gaza: Shiri Bibas, and her two red-haired sons, Ariel and Kfir. Many held orange balloons and Israeli flags, expressing their deep sorrow and solidarity.

Israeli television broadcast the funeral procession live, and after the private funeral, aired public eulogies by relatives on a large screen in Tel Aviv's Hostages Square. A woman named Neta told Channel 12, "This family has been deeply etched in my heart, and I believe in all of ours." She said she had traveled from the north to pay her last respects to the Bibas family, showing the nation's collective grief.

Kfir, just nine months old from Kibbutz Nir Oz, was the youngest of the 251 hostages kidnapped in the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023. His brother Ariel was only four years old. The two boys' photos became one of the most recognizable symbols of the campaign to free the hostages. Yarden Bibas, Shiri's husband, was not released with his family earlier this month when Hamas freed some hostages, causing deep sorrow in Israel.

On Wednesday, Yarden Bibas paid tribute to his 32-year-old wife, Shiri, calling her "the best wife and mother," and said he would love her forever. He said, "I want to tell you everything that's happening in the world and in Israel. Shiri, everyone knows us, loves us. You can't imagine how surreal this madness is." Wearing an orange kippah, he shared touching memories of him and his children and recounted how he and his wife were surprised to welcome their second red-haired boy. The Israeli President's residence was also lit up in orange lights representing the family.

At the start of the procession, the Bibas family thanked the Israeli people for their support and expressed their desire that "we can meet again in moments of joy and not sorrow." Shontal, wrapped in an orange flag, watched the convoy heading to the cemetery, expressing sympathy for the bereaved family. She told Channel 12, "I wanted to come close to them, to offer my condolences to Yarden and his family. I hope he can recover from the imprisonment he suffered and understand this terrible tragedy. His tragedy is the tragedy of all of us."

A haunting video documented Shiri Bibas's plight during the Hamas attack on southern Israel 16 months ago. In the video, she is seen clutching her children tightly, surrounded by armed men, before they were taken from their home. Hours later, surveillance footage showed them in Khan Younis. In November 2023, Hamas claimed that Israeli airstrikes in Gaza had killed Shiri and her sons. However, the Israeli military never confirmed this, only expressing "grave concern" for them.

Until last week, the Bibas family still held out hope that the mother and her sons could return to Israel alive. They asked the public "not to hold eulogies for our loved ones" until the government completed its autopsies. Then, last Friday, the news came, shocking many Israelis after Hamas handed over the remains of deceased hostages for the first time since its 2023 attacks under a Gaza truce agreement. The Bibas boys were dead, their identities confirmed by DNA testing. An Israeli military spokesman said that pathology examinations and intelligence indicated that they were killed "at the hands" of their captors.

Furthermore, Shiri Bibas's remains were not found in the coffin bearing her name, which was handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross. It reportedly contained the remains of a Palestinian woman from Gaza. Hamas said that a mix-up may have occurred after Israeli bombing. Two days later, the Bibas family announced that Shiri's body had been returned to Israel and that she had also been murdered in captivity.

The disturbing confusion over the bodies, along with the grim handover ceremony Hamas held for the dead hostages, was one of what Israel said were violations of the truce agreement that led Israel to delay its planned release of some 600 Palestinian prisoners scheduled for last Saturday. Hamas responded that this was a "serious violation" by Israel that plunged the truce process into a new crisis. Hours before the funeral, Israeli and Hamas officials said the crisis had been resolved by mediators, with the remains of four more Israeli hostages expected to be returned later Wednesday or Thursday in tandem with the release of Palestinian prisoners.

However, the incident has sparked fresh fears among the families of the roughly 60 remaining hostages, who remain uncertain whether their loved ones—or their remains—will ever return from Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's vow to avenge the deaths of the Bibas family has only added to their relatives' worries. The family has criticized Israeli media and Netanyahu for ignoring their wishes not to release more details about the circumstances of their loved ones' deaths. In a Facebook post on the eve of the funeral, Yarden Bibas's sister, Ofri Bibas Levy, told the Prime Minister to "shut up" after Netanyahu repeatedly described the murders. She said that releasing this information was "utter abuse of a family that has been through 16 months of hell and is still facing the worst."

The Bibas funeral followed the funeral of Oded Lifshitz, also from Nir Oz, who was 83 years old when he was kidnapped. His body was also returned last week. Netanyahu said he was murdered in captivity by Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Shiri Bibas and her children were buried in a coffin next to the final resting place of her parents, Yossi and Margit Silberman, who lived on the same kibbutz and were killed there on October 7. In total, about 1,200 people were killed on Israel's deadliest day ever. That triggered Gaza's deadliest war ever, in which more than 48,000 people have been killed, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.

At the funeral, Ofri Bibas Levy called on Israeli officials seeking forgiveness for their failure to protect Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir on that day, instead demanding that they take responsibility. "Forgiveness means taking responsibility and committing to acting differently, learning from mistakes. Forgiveness means nothing until the failures are investigated, until all the officials take responsibility. Our disaster as a country and as a family should not have happened, and must never happen again."