Israel’s Hostages and Missing Families Forum said Wednesday that it had received the “heart-shattering news” that Shiri Bibas and her two young children, Ariel and Kfir, are among the four dead hostages expected to be released from Gaza on Thursday.
The body of Oded Lifshitz is also expected to be released on the same day, in what will be the first handover of dead hostages since the ceasefire deal with Hamas went into effect in January.
“This news cuts like a knife through our hearts, the families’ hearts, and the hearts of people all over the world,” the forum said in a statement. “It is with great sadness that we received the news of the return of Shiri, Kfir, and Ariel Bibas, along with Oded Lifshitz, who were kidnapped alive and will return deceased for eternal rest in Israel.”
For Israel, the first return of hostage bodies will be a hugely emotional and somber moment.
The two Bibas boys have become the most recognizable victims of the October 7 terror attacks on Israel. At just nine months, Kfir was the youngest hostage kidnapped into Gaza and the youngest to have been killed. A photo of him holding a pink elephant toy and looking directly at the camera with a toothless smile has been featured in numerous campaigns and protests around the world.
His brother Ariel, just four at the time of the attack, was often shown in a photo taken after he had a haircut, still wrapped in the hairdresser’s cape. Earlier photos of the family showed Ariel, a big fan of Batman, with locks of long red hair.
Their mother, Shiri, was kidnapped at age 32. Their father, Yarden, was among those released earlier this month after 484 days in captivity.
The announcement of the names was marred by the Bibas family’s anger at the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, which they said had released the names without their approval.
The forum later released a statement at the request of the Bibas family, asking the public not to “eulogize our loved ones until there is a confirmation after final identification.”
A source in the Prime Minister’s office told CNN that while it had not published an official statement with the names of the dead hostages, IDF (Israel Defense Forces) liaison officers had approved the publishing of the names to reporters without clearing this first with the family.
“This is a serious mistake in the conduct of the IDF liaison officers towards the Bibas family, which resulted from an unfortunate human error,” the source said.
The IDF told CNN it had reviewed the matter and spoken with the families. “We regret the unintentional mistake and the distress it caused the families,” it said.
Ahead of tomorrow’s releases, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that “my own heart is torn,” in a video address posted online Wednesday evening.
“Tomorrow will be a very difficult day for the state of Israel. A wrenching day, a day of grief. We are bringing home four of our beloved hostages, deceased,” he said.
Netanyahu added: “We are grieving; we are in pain, but we are also determined to ensure that such a thing never happens again.”
Lifshitz was 83 years old when he and his wife Yocheved were kidnapped from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023. Yocheved was one of two hostages released by Hamas later that month, while Oded remained in captivity.
The forum said in a statement Wednesday that “along with the heavy sorrow, their return for burial creates certainty for their loved ones and closes the agonizing circle of uncertainty that has lasted for 502 days.”
“There are another 69 abductees being held captive by Hamas, for whom there is still no release date,” the forum said, adding that decision-makers should “expedite” the negotiations.
Lifshitz’s family said in a statement that “these are not easy times for us, after we were informed that our beloved Oded is on the list of the hostages who will return to Israel tomorrow, after being kidnapped alive from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz.”
“For 502 days we hoped and prayed for a different ending, but until we receive absolute certainty, our journey will not end, and even after that we will continue to fight until the last hostage is returned,” the statement added.
