Crowds line streets as Bibas funeral procession begins

Thousands of Israelis lined the streets of southern Israel to pay their final respects to Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas on Wednesday morning as their funeral procession began.

Many held signs, flags, or orange balloons — a symbol of the children’s hair colour.

The three will be laid to rest in Zohar, near the family’s home in Kibbutz Nir Oz. The funeral is closed to the public but will be live-streamed.

The Bibas family also insisted that no politicians attend. On Tuesday, Yarden’s sister, Ofri Bibas-Levy denounced Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for publicly sharing details about the deaths of the three against the family’s wishes. Netanyahu shared details of the murders while addressing the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Congressional Summit on Tuesday.

“This is outright abuse of a family that has already been enduring hell for 16 months,” Bibas-Levy said in a Facebook post.

Shiri Bibas and her husband, Yarden, and sons Ariel and Kfir were abducted from their home on Kibbutz Nir Oz on the morning of Oct. 7. At just nine-months-old, the red-haired Kfir was the youngest hostage. Ariel was four.

Shiri and the boys were expected to be released along with 105 other women and children during the temporary ceasefire of November 2023. On November 29, Hamas claimed the three had been killed in an Israeli airstrike but provided no evidence.

Yarden was released on Feb. 1.

Israeli pathologists confirmed that Shiri and the children were murdered in November 2023, adding that there was no evidence to indicate they died in an airstrike.

All four were Israeli-Argentine nationals. Argentine President Javier Milei declared two days of national mourning.

At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 63 remaining hostages, 36 are believed to be dead.