“The world must not forget”: the suffering of Kfir Bibas’ family four months after his kidnapping

“I don’t know if my child will ever know them.” Ofri Bibas, who is six months pregnant, had yet to share the news with her brother Yarden on October 7. He was kidnapped along with his entire family by Hamas militants from Kibbutz Nir Oz during attacks in Israel.

Yarden was kidnapped along with his wife Shiri and two children: Ariel, 4 years old, and Kfir, who was barely 9 months old. On January 18, the baby should turn one year old. Their health is in doubt, especially after Hamas announced in late November that Shiri and two young children had been killed “as a result of Israeli bombing.”

“We fear for their lives”

After this statement, the Israeli army always refused to confirm the Hamas statement, only mentioning verification of “the veracity of this information.” “We fear for their lives,” Daniel Hagari, an Israeli army spokesman, said Monday after the IDF broadcast video of the family. In these images from a street camera in Khan Younes, in the southern Gaza Strip, a few kilometers from the Israeli kibbutz Nir Oz where they were kidnapped, Shiri Bibas can be seen standing behind him, surrounded by seven armed men. the day of his capture.

During a press conference held on Tuesday at noon, those close to the Bibas family once again expressed concern about their fate: “We ask that the return of these children be an absolute priority in all agreements and that this family be returned home. These children are the only ones still held hostage in the Gaza Strip. We agreed to publish this video so that the world could not forget, could not look away,” said Ofri Bibas.

“What happened on October 7 does not represent Islam”

“We still can’t believe that they have to endure all this, that they are probably being kept in the dark, as several hostages have reported,” added Aylon Keshet, Yarden Bibas’ cousin.

They are now reaching out to the rest of the Muslim community as Ramadan is set to begin in March: “This is a period of reflection, repentance and new beginnings. What happened on October 7 is not a manifestation of Islam. What Hamas is doing does not represent Islam. I ask Arab communities, Arab leaders, all people who believe in the goodness of humanity, to take this time to apply pressure where necessary on Hamas. Child abduction is not Islam. Kidnapping and raping women is not Islam,” Ofri Bibas concluded in his speech.