Bibas family urges ‘all Israeli officials’ to take responsibility for hostage deaths

Israel’s Bibas family called on all Israeli officials on Wednesday to take responsibility for the deaths of their loved ones in captivity in Gaza, saying they could have been saved.

Yarden Bibas covering the coffin of his wife Shiri and sons Ariel and Kfir during the slain hostages' funeral near Kibbutz Nir Oz on February 26, 2025. Picture: Eitan Uner/Hostages and Missing Families Forum

ZOHAR: Israel’s Bibas family called on all Israeli officials on Wednesday to take responsibility for the deaths of their loved ones in captivity in Gaza, saying they could have been saved.

“This disaster should not have happened. You should not have been taken, and you should have returned alive,” Ofri Bibas said at the funeral of her sister-in-law, Shiri Bibas, and her two nephews. “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 been saved but you preferred revenge.”

The three Bibas family members were taken hostage by Palestinian militants on October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel. Last week, Hamas returned their remains as part of an ongoing ceasefire deal with Israel that has largely halted the fighting in Gaza.

Yarden Bibas, husband of Shiri and father of Kfir and Ariel, was also taken hostage but released earlier this month.

AFP