Metro Voice News Celebrating Faith, Family & Community
Gut-wrenching news slammed Israel this week. Ariel and Kfir Bibas—four years old and nine months—were apparently murdered by their Palestinian captors.
The red-headed boys were snatched from Kibbutz Nir Oz during October 7 by Hamas and Gaza’s residents. The BBC reports that IDF officials confirmed the deaths Friday, stating “forensic findings suggested the boys had been killed with ‘bare hands'”—dead by November 2023 at the latest. Their tiny bodies were driven back Thursday in coffins along streets filled with tens of thousands of Israelis paying their respects.
The IDF got four bodies Thursday, the two children, a male hostage, plus one they thought was Shiri’s—until tests showed it did not match the DNA any missing person taken or killed on Oct. 7.
The Jerusalem Post reports a forensic team led by Israel’s Dr. Chen Kugel, later confirmed Shiri’s actual body was finally released Friday. In a statement, her family simply said, “Shiri is home.”
Forensic experts say the bodies show “no evidence of injuries caused by bombing,” torching Hamas’s airstrike excuse. IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari told the BBC, his voice cracking. Yarden Bibas, their dad, freed this month after 484 days, begged the world via The Times of Israel: “Know the horrific truth about my sons.”
Israelis are livid and if there was any sympathy for the Arabas who had elected Hamas as their leaders, it has evaporated. “Killing everyone involved isn’t enough—they all have to pay, even the ones cheering Hamas on,” Or Benaroya, a cashier, fumed to The Times of Israel. Outside a soccer stadium, Sagi Vanunu, a restaurant worker, roared, “Declare a world war against Gaza!”—his words captured by the same outlet.
Those little coffins? You can’t unsee those, say observers. “The smallest coffins are the heaviest burden,” The Jerusalem Post wrote. Orange vigils glowed worldwide Saturday night but for Ariel and Kfir, it’s over—too young for peace, too small to plead for mercy from their torturers.
–Dwight Widaman
