‘I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you’: Father bids farewell to wife and little boys who captured a nation

Tel Aviv: Holding flags, orange balloons and signs saying “forgive us”, tens of thousands of Israelis lined highways as the bodies of a mother and her two young sons, killed in captivity in the Gaza Strip, were taken for burial.

People lined the route as far as the eye could see, sobbing and embracing each other as the caskets of Shiri Bibas and her sons, Kfir and Ariel, made their way along the 100-kilometre route from central Israel to a cemetery near Kibbutz Nir Oz, close to Gaza, where the family were living when they were abducted on October 7, 2023. Kfir was nine months old at the time, and Ariel was four.

Thousands of people line the entrance to the Ayalon highway to watch and pay their respects as the funeral procession carrying the caskets of Shiri, Kfir and Ariel Bibas pass by with the family in minibuses behind them.Credit: Getty Images

Yarden Bibas held back tears as he eulogised his family in a private service, parts of which was broadcast to thousands of people who came together in Tel Aviv.

“Do you remember our last decision together?” he said, speaking directly to his wife. “In the safe room, I asked if we should fight or surrender. You said fight, so I fought.

“Shiri, I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you all. If only I had known what would happen, I wouldn’t have fought.”

Then he spoke of his elder son, Ariel: “I hope you know I thought about you every day, every minute.

A poster shows Shiri Bibas, who was kidnapped with her husband and two young sons.Credit: AP

“I’m sure you’re making all the angels laugh with your silly jokes and impressions,” he added, envisioning the boy in paradise. “I hope there are plenty of butterflies for you to watch, just like you did during our picnics.”

Yarden also addressed his youngest son. “Kfir, I’m sorry I didn’t protect you better,” he said.

“You brought more light and happiness to our little home. You came with your sweet, captivating laugh and smile, and I was instantly hooked. It was impossible not to nibble on you all the time.”

The trio was buried in a joint grave next to Shiri’s parents, who were also killed in the attack. The New York Times reported government officials were asked to stay away.

Yifat Zailer shows photos of her cousin, Shiri, Yarden, Ariel (top right) and Kfir.Credit: AP

Yarden’s sister, Ofri Bibas, criticised Israeli officials, saying the disaster should not have happened.

“You should not have been taken, and you should have returned alive,” she said at the funeral.

“There is no meaning to forgiveness before the failures are investigated and all officials take responsibility.

“Our disaster as a nation and as a family should not have happened, and must never happen again. They could have saved you, but preferred revenge.”

Mourners watching the live feed of the funeral in Tel Aviv.Credit: Getty Images

The funeral embodied the profound sense of loss and grief still permeating Israel after Hamas’ attack that triggered the Gaza war. It came hours before Hamas handed over the bodies of four more hostages in exchange for Israel’s release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

The bodies of Shiri and her sons were handed over to Israel earlier this month as part of a ceasefire deal that paused the war. Israelis endured another moment of agony when testing showed that one of the bodies returned by Hamas was identified as someone else. Shiri’s body was returned the following night and positively identified.

Footage of a terrified Shiri clutching her sons as they were taken to Gaza by militants is seared into the country’s collective memory. Yarden was abducted separately and released alive in a different handover last month.

Israel says forensic evidence shows the boys were killed by their captors in November 2023, while Hamas says the family was killed along with their guards in an Israeli airstrike.

Relatives of the Bibas family show their appreciation to crowds along the road leading to the funeral.Credit: AP

Kfir was the youngest of about 30 children taken hostage. The infant, with red hair and a toothless smile, quickly became well-known across Israel. His ordeal was raised by Israeli leaders on podiums around the world.

The extended Bibas family has been active at protests, branding the colour orange as the symbol of their fight for the children and their mother. They marked Kfir’s first birthday with a release of orange balloons and lobbied world leaders for support.

Family photos aired on TV and posted on social media created a national bond with the two boys and made them familiar faces.

Shiri Bibas and her children were buried in a joint grave next to Shiri’s parents, who were also killed in the attack.Credit: Getty Images

Israelis learnt of Ariel’s love for Batman. Photos from a happier time showed the entire family dressed up as the character.

On the day of the funeral, many people dressed up in Batman costumes and saluted as the caskets passed.

In the latest hostage exchange, Hamas released four bodies to the Red Cross on Thursday, while at about the same time, a Red Cross convoy carrying several dozen released Palestinian prisoners left Israel’s Ofer prison headed for the West Bank town of Beitunia, where hundreds of well-wishers jostled for a glimpse of the bus. Hours later, buses carrying hundreds of other Palestinian prisoners arrived in the Gaza city of Khan Younis, with some men kissing the ground as they emerged from the buses.

A crowd watches a live feed from a funeral for members of the Bibas family in Tel Aviv.Credit: Getty Images

Among those leaving Israel were hundreds of detainees arrested from Gaza after the October 7 attack and held without charge for months. They included 445 men, 21 teenagers and one woman, according to lists shared by Palestinian officials that did not specify their ages.

Israel had delayed the release of more than 600 Palestinian prisoners since last Saturday to protest what it called the cruel treatment of hostages during their handover by Hamas.

The militant group called the delay a “serious violation” of the ceasefire and had said talks on a second phase were not possible until the Palestinians were freed.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the release of the latest bodies would be carried out without a ceremony, as opposed to past Hamas releases with stage-managed events in front of crowds. Israel, along with the Red Cross and United Nations officials, have called the ceremonies humiliating for the hostages.

Relatives and friends of Palestinian prisoners to be released from Israeli prison wait around a bonfire for their arrival in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip.Credit: AP

During the release of the Bibas family’s bodies in Gaza last week, Hamas militants displayed coffins on a stage labelled with the names of Shiri and her boys as upbeat music blared. Behind them hung a panel where their pictures hovered beneath a cartoon of Netanyahu resembling a vampire.

Shiri’s sister, Dana Silberman Sitton, said she had tried to prepare herself for over a year to bury her sister alongside their parents, but the moment was still overwhelming.

She begged people to remember Shiri as full of light and laughter – not just the photo of her terror-stricken face as she was being kidnapped.

She also asked forgiveness on behalf of Israel’s government and military because it had taken so long to bring the family home.

Some 1200 people in Israel were killed and 251 were taken hostage in the attack that triggered the war in Gaza. More than 48,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

AP, Reuters

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