On October 7, 2023, normalcy was forced to a halt in Israel and was replaced with tears of grief and despair on the faces of many citizens. Over 1,200 Israelis died and around 250 individuals were taken away from their families and friends by Hamas terrorists in Gaza.
Among the 250 that were held hostage were 30 children, two of whom the terrorist organization refused to release during the first stages of the deal in November of 2023 in which several children were released. Kfir and Ariel Bibas, the youngest of the kids taken into captivity, were returned home on February 20, 2025 in caskets marking their deaths while in Gaza.
Both Bibas children were so young, vulnerable, and innocent. They barely got to live their lives—Kfir couldn’t even walk or talk when he was dragged into Gaza, and he never got to experience a birthday or have any cherishable memories with his parents. Ariel was only four years old, and he too missed out on many life experiences that everyone enjoys in growing up. He never got to have his mother or father take him to his first day of school, he never got to meet his first best friend, and he never got to see the world ahead of him. Their lives were put on an indefinite pause the second they were taken. Instead of being nurtured and loved as they should have been, the Bibas children’s last moments were marked with pain as they were beaten until they were no longer alive.
Shiri Bibas, age 32, Ariel and Kfirs mother, was taken with her children alongside her husband Yarden Bibas, age 34, during the attacks on her home in the Nir Oz Kibbutz. Her husband Yarden was separated from her and the children when they arrived, and unfortunately, he was the only one to survive. Shiri protected her children until her last breath and fought to keep them protected, as stated by Yarden during their memorial service. According to Time, on the day that she was meant to be released with her children, Hamas cruelly switched out her body with the body of a Gazan woman, further delaying her honorable burial. She was officially released on February 22, allowing Yarden to mourn his wife and children together.
On Sunday February 23, the communities of New York and New Jersey came together in a rally to support the families of the hostages and to commemorate the lives of the Bibas family and Oded Lifshitz (another hostage released on February 20) in Central Park. In the rally, families of the hostages came up to the stage to talk about their loved ones who were still in captivity. Along with the families was Name, a hostage that was released in the first deal of 2023. She is a Mexican-Israeli citizen waiting for her partner to come home for over 500 days. After the New York City rally, the Israeli-American Council along with the Tenafly community held a similar memorial in downtown Tenafly on the same day with speakers and singers from both the IAC and the Israeli Scouts.
The recent release of the Bibas family was tragic, as many prayed that Shiri and her two sons would come home alive and reunite with Yarden. On February 26, the people of Israel stood together in orange clothing while holding orange balloons and flags as a commemoration to the ginger-haired children.
