The image of Shiri Bibas with a firm grip on her two red-haired boys spread like wildfire after the Hamas terror attack on October 7, 2023. In the picture, the mother's mouth is twisted in a grimace, her eyes filled with terror. Big brother Ariel, then four, has a pacifier in his mouth.
Since the announcement of the ceasefire, the Bibas brothers have been on everyone's lips in Israel. Ariel and Kfir, now five and almost two years old, are the only children remaining in Hamas captivity since the previous ceasefire in November 2023, when over 100 people from the hostage group were released.
Now, Ariel is number five on the 33-name long list that is circulating ahead of the first phase of the ceasefire. Father Yarden is number six, little brother Kfir number seven, and mother Shiri number eight.
Said to have been killed
The nightmare that has been our reality for the past year must come to an end, said the boys' grandfather Eli Bibas at a demonstration in Tel Aviv earlier this week, according to The Times of Israel.
On Saturday, our Kfir will celebrate his second birthday in captivity. How is it possible that my grandson, who was kidnapped when he was eight and a half months old, has to spend his second birthday in hell?
But whether they are still alive is uncertain. In November 2023, Hamas claimed that the mother and boys had been killed in an Israeli air attack, but the deaths have not been confirmed by Israel. The 33 hostages to be released over the next six weeks are supposed to be alive, which suggests that Israel has information that the family is still alive. In September, a previously released hostage reported seeing Yarden Bibas in a cage in a tunnel in Gaza.
"Human evil"
For many Israelis, the two boys have become a symbol of the October 7 attack – and of the hope of bringing home the Israeli hostages alive.
I get goosebumps when I think of the two little redheads, says 70-year-old Osnat Nyska, whose grandchild attended kindergarten with the Bibas brothers, to AFP in Tel Aviv.
If they are no longer alive, it will be heartbreaking, says her friend Yafa Wolfensohn.
What happened to the Bibas children is a symbol of human evil, says 23-year-old Hila Shlomo to AFP.
But also for the victory of life if we manage to free them.
During the Hamas terror attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, around 250 people were taken hostage, most of them Israelis, and were taken to Gaza. They are being held by Hamas and other armed extremist groups that participated in the October 7 attack.
During a week-long ceasefire in November, over 100 hostages were exchanged for 240 Palestinian prisoners. Several more Israelis have been freed by the country's military, and around 30 have been brought home after being killed.
Currently, it is estimated that nearly 100 people from the hostage group are still being held in Gaza. Of these, around 60 are believed to be alive, according to Israel.
