Bibas family: Dead Hamas hostages buried in Israel
Thousands of Israelis line the streets to pay their last respects to Shiri Bibas, who were killed while held hostage by Hamas, and her two sons, Ariel and Kfir.
The German-Israeli Hamas hostage Shiri Bibas and her sons Ariel and Kfir, whose bodies were handed over to Israel a few days ago, will be buried today, Wednesday. The grieving father and husband Jarden Bibas, in a joint statement with his sister-in-law Dana Siton Silberman, invited the public to line the funeral procession. The funeral itself will take place in the closest possible circle.
Videos show thousands of Israelis lining the streets of the city of Rishon LeZion to pay their respects, many waving Israeli flags and holding orange balloons. "The Israeli people have come in droves to join us," said a statement released by the Bibas family on Wednesday. "We see and hear you. We are moved and strengthened by you."
Baby Kfir Bibas, who was nearly nine months old when he was kidnapped, and his four-year-old brother Ariel were the youngest hostages kidnapped in the Gaza Strip during the raid by the radical Islamist Hamas and allied Palestinian groups on Israel on the morning of October 7, 2023. Their bodies were handed over to Israel last Thursday as part of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. Their mother's body was handed over a day later after there was a mix-up, according to Hamas.
According to Hamas, Shiri Bibas and her children were killed in an Israeli air strike at the beginning of the Gaza war. However, according to autopsy results from Israeli forensic experts, the bodies of the three showed no such injuries . The Bibas family said on Saturday that the brothers and their mother had been murdered. The family has requested that details not be published.
Berlin: Brandenburg Gate to be illuminatedIn Berlin, the Brandenburg Gate is to be illuminated in orange today, Wednesday. "In memory of the murdered members of the Bibas family and in solidarity with the numerous hostages who are still in the hands of the Hamas terrorists," as Berlin's Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) explained on Platform X. Shiri Bibas and her two sons Kfir and Ariel also had German citizenship.
Berliner-zeitung
