The bodies of Ariel and Kfir Bibas were returned to Israel on Thursday by the terrorists who kidnapped and murdered them. Upon official identification of their bodies, their death increases the total number of children from Israel who have died in the fallout of the October 7 attacks to 55.
Kfir was nine months old when he was kidnapped, and Ariel was 4.
According to a July 2024 report from Israel’s Ministry of Justice, 53 children were known to have been killed during Hamas’s October 7 massacre and during the war that followed. Twelve of those children were killed by a Hezbollah missile while on a soccer field in the Druze Town of Majdal Shams.
“Our hearts were broken today. On October 7, 2023, Israel suffered its deadliest attack in history,” Dr. Cochav Elkayam Levy, the founder and chair of the Civil Commission on Oct 7 Crimes by Hamas against Women and Children, told The Daily Wire. “ Families were massacred, tortured, taken hostage, witnessed the murder of their loved ones, separated from each other and many, including children, were exposed to the atrocities on social media.”
A total of 870 youth lost one parent in the war, and another 23 lost both parents. Three nuclear families were entirely wiped out.
A report by the Dvora Institute, which Levy helped author, found that Hamas killed civilians as their family members bore witness, especially children. Levy’s report deemed Hamas’s tactics on October 7 a “kinocide,” or a systematic and widespread attack directed against families.
“The Bibas family is not alone,” Levy said. “They are among many who faced unimaginable horrors. Families like the Idan family, Arava family and Sharabis suffered devastating losses.”
On October 7, the Idan family from Kibbutz Nahal Oz took shelter in their safe room as terrorists stormed their home. Maayan, 18, was shot and killed in front of her parents, Tsachi and Gali, and her younger siblings, 11-year-old Yael and nine-year-old Shahar. The family was then forced outside at gunpoint as the parents tried to shield their children. The terrorists accessed Gali’s Facebook account and live-streamed the family as they mourned Maayan before taking Tsachi hostage, where he remains in captivity in Gaza.
Of the 36 children kidnapped during the October 7 massacre, all were returned in the November 2023 hostage deal except for the Bibas brothers. Ninety-one children and youth had one parent taken hostage, and seven had both parents held hostage in Gaza.
Dikla Arava and her 17-year-old son, Tomer Arava Eliaz, were killed during Hamas’s attack on Kibbutz Nahal Oz after forcing Tomer to knock on the doors of their neighbors to lure them outside, which the terrorists livestreamed on Dikla’s Facebook page. Her two daughters, Dafna, 15, and Ela, 8, were kidnapped for 51 days before being released in the November hostage agreement.
Eli Sharabi was released from Hamas captivity earlier this month after being paraded on a stage, where he stated he was looking forward to being reunited with his wife and children. Upon his return to Israel, Sharabi was informed that Hamas had killed his wife, Leanne, and his daughters, Noiya, 16, and Yahel, 13. His brother Yossi, who was also taken hostage, is believed to be dead.
So far in the war, a total of 275 children under the age of 10 have been injured, not including the children in Majdal Shams. An additional 376 children and youth between the ages of 10 and 20 have been injured.
Another documented example highlighted in Israeli government screenings of the day’s atrocities is the Tsaa family. Gil Tsaa heroically shielded his two young sons by jumping on a grenade, sacrificing himself to save them. Footage shows the boys being ushered into their home by terrorists who raid their refrigerator as the boys cry. The youngest son, Shay, had an eye blown out of its socket from the blast, making him permanently blind in that eye. Gil’s 17-year-old son, Or Taasa, was also murdered on October 7 at a different location.
“The return of the bodies of Shiri Bibas and her young sons, Ariel and Kfir, who were kidnapped and brutally murdered, highlights the immense suffering endured by countless families,” Levy added. “The international community must recognize kinocide as a crime against humanity. Justice for the victims and the prevention of future atrocities depend on global acknowledgement and decisive action.”
At Hamas’s propaganda spectacle, where the coffins of the Bibas brothers, their mother Shiri, and Oded Lifshitz were displayed, crowds cheered over upbeat music.
The coffins each had a picture of the hostages with a sticker that said “date of arrest October 7 2023.”
On the stage was a picture of the four fallen hostages with an image of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu depicted as a vampire and a missile with a sign in English reading, “They were killed by USA bombs.”
The Red Cross representatives signed documents on stage to receive the bodies and transported them to the Israel Defense Forces in the Gaza Strip, where they underwent an evaluation by a bomb squad to ensure the terrorists did not booby trap them, as they had done to other bodies on October 7.
The IDF wrapped the coffins in Israeli flags, and the Military Rabbinate chief, Brigadier-General Rabbi Eyal Krim, recited Psalm 83.
Soldiers can be seen fighting back tears as they carry the coffins to vehicles to be transported to Abu Kabir Forensic Institute in Tel Aviv for identification. Once the bodies are identified, families will be given final confirmation of their loved ones so they can proceed with the burials.
The news of the death of 32-year-old Shiri and her two young boys has sparked international outrage. Footage of Shiri’s terrified face while holding Kfir and Ariel went viral after October 7, making the family a symbol of the horror terrorists inflicted on Israeli civilians during the attack. In November 2023, Hamas forced Shiri’s husband, Yarden Bibas, to record a video announcing the deaths of his wife and kids. Yarden, who was released earlier this month, has reportedly clung to hope that his family is alive.
