Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu this evening welcomed six hostages freed from Hamas captivity and expressed his sorrow about the fate of the Bibas family—Shiri and her children, Ariel and Kfir—who were murdered in cold blood by their Gazan captors.
He also reaffirmed the government’s commitment to recovering all of the hostages, living and dead.
“Together with my wife, Sara, and all citizens of Israel, I welcome home Eliya Cohen, Omer Shem Tov, Omer Wenkert, Tal Shoham, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed. Our hearts are bursting with emotion, and we embrace their families. Their return is a moment of joy and relief for their loved ones and for all of Israel,” the premier said in a statement.
“Following our firm insistence and unequivocal demand for the immediate return of Shiri, we succeeded in bringing her back last night for burial in Israel. The heart of the nation is shattered by the abduction and brutal murder of Shiri and her children—Ariel and Kfir, may their memory be a blessing,” Netanyahu said.
On Thursday, Hamas returned the bodies of Kfir and Ariel, along with that of octogenarian Oded Lifshitz. However, the fourth body freed from Gaza, which Hamas said was that of Shiri Bibis, was found to belong to an unidentified woman.
The Palestinian terrorist group on Friday night handed over Shiri’s body to the Red Cross, which in turn delivered the corpse to Israel for identification. On Saturday, the National Institute of Forensic Medicine at Abu Kabir in Tel Aviv positively identified the remains of Shiri Bibas.
“We share in the deep sorrow of the Bibas family and embrace them warmly. We will never forget and never forgive,” the prime minister said.
“We remember, with pain and salutation, our fallen heroes and the wounded—thanks to them our sons and daughters have returned home. So far, we have brought back 192 hostages—of them 147 alive and 45 deceased,” he noted.
“Hamas still holds 63 hostages. The Israeli government remains committed to acting decisively to bring all our hostages home—the living back to their families and the fallen to a proper burial in their homeland,” Netanyahu said.
On Oct. 7, 2023, Gazan terrorists stormed Kibbutz Nir Oz. They breached the Bibas family home’s door using a drill and other equipment and entered the safe room where the four were hiding. Father Yarden reported the attack to his wider family in real-time, texting that “it feels like the end.”
The video of Shiri’s kidnapping—terrified and trying to protect her two children with her arms as she was surrounded by masked men with weapons—became a symbol of the Oct. 7 massacre. Shiri’s parents, Yossi and Margit Silberman, were murdered that day.
Yarden Bibas was freed on Feb. 1 after 484 days in Hamas captivity. JNS
{Matzav.com Israel}