Israelis hold photographs of Shiri, Kfir and Ariel Bibas at a gathering calling for their release at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, on November 28, 2023. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
(JTA) — This story has been updated with a statement from relatives of the Bibas family.
(JTA) — Shiri, Kfir and Ariel Bibas, the redheaded mother and children who were for many the faces of Israel’s hostage crisis, are dead.
They were taken hostage during Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, and died while held captive in Gaza, a group representing hostages’ relatives announced on Wednesday. The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said on Wednesday that their bodies would be returned to Israel on Thursday, along with that of slain hostage Oded Lifshitz, as part of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire.
The announcement came more than a year after Hamas, in November 2023, said that the two boys and their mother had been killed by an Israeli airstrike but did not provide evidence. Israel had said it was investigating the claim.
“We are heartbroken to share the devastating news that Shiri Bibas, Ariel Bibas, Kfir Bibas, and Oded Lifshitz are no longer with us,” said Israel’s Hostages and Families Forum in a statement. “They have been confirmed as hostages who were killed in captivity. This loss is unbearable. Over these painful months, we have come to know these hostages and their families closely, and our hearts are with them in this moment of unimaginable grief.”
The family burst into public view when a video circulated showing Shiri holding her sons while they were abducted from their home on Kibbutz Nir Oz on Oct. 7. Shiri’s visible terror as she embraced her children offered one of the first public confirmations that the terrorists who had flooded into the country, killing approximately 1,200, were taking captives back to Gaza. She was holding the children close to her chest as Ariel sucked a pacifier.
Her husband, the boys’ father Yarden, was abducted separately and freed earlier this month.
As a sweeping effort to raise attention about the hostages took hold, pictures of the family in coordinated Batman outfits and of the children and parents in happier moments were shared all over the world. Kfir, the youngest known hostage, in particular became a symbol of Hamas’ brutality and the pain of the crisis.
Rallies to free the hostages often featured orange, a reference to the boys’ vibrant hair color.
Their deaths come as a crushing blow to a country and a Jewish world that had held out hope for a repeat of the scenes from November 2023, when dozens of children abducted on Oct. 7 were released during a temporary ceasefire and reunited with their family members. In the latest round of hostage releases, Israel saw images of defiant young woman soldiers freed from captivity.
On Wednesday, after Israel and the Hostages and Families Forum announced Shiri, Kfir and Ariel’s deaths, their relatives issued a statement saying it was still waiting for “confirmation following final identification.”
“Should we receive devastating news, it must come through the proper official channels after all identification procedures are completed,” the statement said. “We ask to refrain from eulogizing our loved ones until there is confirmation following final identification.”
Shiri Bibas, 32 when taken captive, was “the headmaster of the family, forever in control and managing things” and a “a great mother — always doing what is best for the kids and giving all of herself for them,” her sister-in-law Ofri Levy said shortly after their abduction.
Ariel, 4 when taken captive, loved tractors and toy cars; his aunt recalled that he was full of energy, frequently frightening his parents with his climbing. “An energetic redhead, he loves anything with wheels and a motor,” his blurb on the website Bring Them Home said.
Kfir, 9 months when abducted, relied on formula for sustenance and was known in the family as a baby who was quick to laugh. “Recently started crawling and rocking on all fours, he accepts everyone and is always smiling,” the website said about him.
Shortly after announcing his family members’ deaths in November 2023, Hamas released a video showing Yarden Bibas pleading for Israel to accept the bodies of his wife and children so they could be buried in their home country. Following his release, Yarden held out hope that his wife and sons might still be alive.
“Yarden isn’t focusing on himself or what he went through,” a cousin, Jimmy Miller, told Ynet, “but on bringing his family back to Israel.”
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