Shiri Bibas and her two little sons, Ariel and baby Kfir, who were taken by terrorists to Gaza and later murdered, were laid to rest together on Wednesday in a single coffin. Wrapped in each other’s embrace for eternity, mother and children were buried as one at their shared funeral.
Their final resting place is Tsoher Cemetery, not far from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, the place from which they were violently abducted on October 7, 2023.
“They will remain together and close, just as Shiri enveloped the children, always, including on that accursed day,” said Carmit Palty Katzir, who led the funeral service.
The reference was to an unforgettable video showing a terrified Shiri clutching her sons tightly as a gang of terrorists forced them from their home. The footage became one of the most haunting symbols of the attack, permanently imprinting their tragic fate onto the nation’s consciousness.
Ariel was only four years old when the family was snatched from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz on that terrible day, and Kfir was a mere nine months old. Their kibbutz was among the communities most devastated in the assault—terrorists invaded nearly every house, leaving destruction in their wake.
Though the funeral was intended to be private, with government officials and the general public asked not to attend, it was broadcast live across all major Israeli television networks.
The somber procession began in Rishon Lezion, where preparations for burial were made. Along the 60-kilometer route to the cemetery, thousands lined the roads, standing in silent tribute. Many carried orange balloons or dressed in orange, a poignant nod to Ariel and Kfir’s striking red hair, which had come to symbolize their tragic story.
With a heart full of grief, Yarden Bibas stood alongside his sister, Ofri, and delivered a eulogy for his wife and children. Yarden, who had been held captive as well, was released earlier this month as part of a ceasefire agreement with Hamas.
“Shiri, this is the closest I’ve been to you since October 7th, and I can’t kiss or hug you, and it’s breaking me!” he cried out, expressing his anguish over not being able to protect them. “I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you all,” he said.
Turning to his wife, he continued: “Protect me from bad decisions. Shield me from harmful things and protect me from myself. Guard me so I don’t sink into darkness. Mishmish, I love you!”
Addressing his son, he said, “You made me a father. You transformed us into a family. You taught me what truly matters in life and about responsibility.”
Then he spoke to Kfir, saying, “I didn’t think our family could be more perfect, and then you came and made it even more perfect.”
Dana Silberman-Sitton, Shiri’s sister, said that although she had spent the past year bracing herself for this moment, no amount of preparation could have made it easier to say farewell.
Silberman-Sitton suffered an unimaginable loss, with three generations of her family taken from her by the terrorists. Her and Shiri’s parents, Margit and Yossi Silberman, who also lived in Kibbutz Nir Oz, were killed on October 7, their home set ablaze by Hamas terrorists.
“We waited to be aunts together, just to be called ‘aunt,’ and you, Shiri were like no other aunt, loving and protective,” she said.
She then paid tribute to Ariel, affectionately called “Lulu,” a redhead with an infectious laugh. “I only got to be your aunt for four years, but they were four proud years,” she said. “I’ll miss your walk, like a little man, your laughter, your kind eyes, and your sweet hugs.”
Turning her words toward Kfir, whom she lovingly called “Firfir,” she expressed sorrow over the limited time they had together. “Sadly, I only had 9 months to cherish you. It wasn’t difficult to fall in love with you immediately. Smiling and pure, and a redhead too — you didn’t disappoint.”
She also spoke of the failures of the country’s leadership and military, lamenting that they were not there when her family needed them the most and that it took so long to bring them home.
“Please watch over us from above — five angels who are uniquely mine. Baz, hug Dad and Mom tightly for me and watch over them for me,” she pleaded. “Please send energies here to drive all evil from the world and leave only good.”
Her grief turned into a powerful declaration: “I promise you, as I promised Mom and Dad, that the monsters beyond the fence will not succeed in their mission. They will not defeat us, they will not break us.”
She emphasized that the attack only strengthened their resolve: “On the contrary, their mission failed because we united, because we grew stronger, because we became invincible. They lost.”
Ofri Bibas Levy, Yarden’s sister, said she had been drafting her words for over a year, struggling to put her emotions into writing.
“The uncertainty, anxiety, and concern for you gave my thoughts no rest, but each time my mind began to formulate them, I forcefully pushed the words away — with the power of my love for you and Yarden, with the strength of hope that you would return,” said Bibas Levy.
“For sixteen months, I’ve been speaking about you everywhere,” she said. “It always hurt and intensified the longing, but talking about you also kept you present, alive. How can it be that you are no longer here?”
She mourned the lost moments with Shiri—no more Shabbos picnics, no more watching their children run toward each other for hugs, no more sharing inside jokes about Yarden.
“How much she misses you,” said Bibas Levy. “How much we imagined you growing up together, far into a post-army trip to South America.”
Her sorrow deepened as she spoke about Kfir, who was only ten months old when his life was cruelly taken.
“We didn’t get to do anything together,” she said. “I didn’t even get to buy you a gift for your first birthday.”
Bibas Levy shared that reminders of her nephews appear constantly in her life: “Every time I see a Batman costume or hear a baby laugh,” she said, recalling Ariel’s love for the superhero. “And that’s how I want to remember the three of you: happy, laughing, a family.”
She vowed to keep their memory alive: “Luli and Firfir, the world came to know you in the most tragic way, but I promise we will do everything so that your memory will be one of innocence, love, and goodness. Exactly as mom Shiri and dad Yarden raised you.”
Turning her grief into a call for accountability, she held the nation’s leadership responsible for the failures that led to the October 7 attack and for not bringing her loved ones home safely.
“Many people ask for your forgiveness, and Yarden’s, and ours,” she said. “But the blame is not on them. This disaster should not have happened. You should not have been taken, and you should have returned alive.”
She insisted that true forgiveness requires accountability: “Forgiveness means accepting responsibility and committing to act differently, to learn from mistakes. There is no meaning to forgiveness before the failures are investigated, and all officials take responsibility. Our disaster as a nation and as a family should not have happened, and must never happen again.”
“They could have saved you but preferred revenge. We lost. Our image of ‘victory’ will never happen. Our struggle against the enemies will be eternal, but we must always sanctify life, love of fellow humans, respect for the dead, and never leave anyone behind. Otherwise, we lose who we are,” she said.
The Bibas family was taken hostage from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023, as thousands of Hamas-led terrorists launched a brutal assault on southern Israel, murdering 1,200 people and abducting 251 hostages, igniting the war in Gaza. Yarden was separated from his wife and children during the abduction.
The bodies of Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir were returned as part of a ceasefire and hostage exchange deal between Israel and Hamas. Yarden Bibas was freed alive on February 1.
Israeli officials concluded that Shiri Bibas was brutally murdered by her captors in November 2023, along with her sons, contradicting Hamas’s false claim that they had perished in an airstrike.
{Matzav.com}