‘The smallest coffins are the heaviest’: Israel afflicts the younger hostages

Kfir and Ariel Bibas were last seen on October 7 with the hands of their mother Shiri around them, holding their children surrounded by armed men and violence, trying to protect them. She couldn’t.

According to the Israeli army, Kfir and Ariel’s last moments were in the “naked hands” of their captors.

How to praise children who have barely lived their lives?

Kfir Bibas, a hostage of only nine months, did not live to take his first steps or celebrate his first birthday.

Ariel Bibas had only experienced four years of life that should have been much longer.

A Kibbutz Nir Oz statement, where children were taken as host He turned on with his smile and joy.

They said Ariel was “a playful child with ginger hair, curious eyes and a big smile. He loved superheroes, tractors and cars, and ran without stopping, climbing and exploring the world.”

The two brothers became the largest symbol of the nightmare hostage that the Israelis are durable. Bringing home to the Bibas family was the fervent hope of a country.

During the last 16 months they have been remembered, prayed, maintained in people’s hearts, not only in Israel but by Jews and others worldwide.

Images of the children were shared on their Batman costumes with Ariel’s Cape flying in the wind; of older brother Ariel hugging his little brother Kfir when he was born; Kfir laughing and gorgoteando while his father Yarden played with him.

And then the image went through the minds from the Hamas attack on October 7: the children clung to their mother Shiri Bibas, his face tormented of fear, since they were surrounded by armed men and taken to Gaza.

No one in Israel wanted this end; Where Kfir and Ariel returned, not to their innocent childhood, but with their tender years already finished. And where his mother who protected them until the last moment has not even returned with them.

In Israel, there is communal pain and pain.

In a video statement, Israeli prime minister said Ariel and Kfir Bibas and Oded Lifschitz, 84, whose body was also returned on Thursday, were “brutally murdered by Hamas Savages.”

Holding a photo of the children, Benjamin Netanyahu said: “Today is a tragic day. It is a day of unlimited pain, of indescribable pain.

“His bodies return home to a nation in the duel. A nation that he will never forget and will never forgive the evil that reduces these beautiful souls … The children of Bibas in particular became the symbol of who we are and against whom we are fighting .

Netanyahu said: “Who kidnaps a child and a baby and murders? Monsters. That’s who.”

The president of Israel, Isaac Herzog, said in a statement: “Agony. Pain. Our hearts, the hearts of an entire nation, are made Jirones.” He apologized on behalf of the country for not protecting them and bringing them home.

Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas were 32 years old, four and nine months when they were kidnapped during the October 7 attacks.

Around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the attacks and another 251 taken back to Gaza as hostages. Israel launched a massive military campaign against Hamas in response, which has killed at least 48,297 Palestinians, mainly civil, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.

This week, in Israel and abroad, people on social networks published images of broken orange hearts to represent children with the striking ginger hair.

On Thursday, when vehicles with the bodies of the children of Bibas and Oded Lifschitz crossed Israel, people who cover the streets with Israeli flags shouted “sorry.”

In October 2023, only weeks after they were kidnapped, the aunt of the Bibas brothers spoke with the BBC.

Effri Bibas Levy described how Kfir had just started crawling and eating solid foods.

“They are civilians and are not supposed to be there. The longer they are there, the more difficult it will be to recover them and less possibilities that they will come alive,” he said.

On Friday he wrote on Facebook: “Sorry Luli (Ariel), sorry Firfir (Kfir).

“You didn’t deserve any of this. We will miss you forever. We are not renouncing your mother Shiri.”

In a video statement, he added: “Shiri, Ariel and Kfir were taken alive by a murderous terrorist organization, and was Israel’s responsibility and obligation to bring them back alive.

“There is no forgiveness for abandoning them on October 7 and there is no forgiveness for abandoning them in captivity. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, we do not receive an apology of yours in this painful moment. For the good of Ariel and Kfir, and for the love of Yarden, We, we, we, we do not seek revenge at this time.

Yarden Bibas, who was recently released as a hostage, must now bury his two young children, with his wife Shiri not yet returned by Hamas.

In Israel they are citing words that resonate painfully: “The smallest coffins are the heaviest.”