Israel Mourns Bibas Brothers
Israel and its supporters sustained yet another heartbreaking blow yesterday after Hamas released the bodies of two young brothers — four-year-old Ariel and 10-month-old Kfir Bibas — from captivity.
The terror group kidnapped the Bibas boys and their parents, Yarden and Shiri, from their home on October 7, 2023. The missing family quickly became a symbol of Hamas’ brutality.
Forensic tests suggest the boys were murdered in November 2023. Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Daniel Hagari says the examinations revealed Hamas soldiers had “deliberately” killed the children with their “bare hands.”
The terror group maintains the two died in an Israeli air strike.
Ariel and Kfir were two of four bodies Hamas returned to Israel on Thursday in nondescript black coffins. Another held 83-year-old peace activist Oded Lipshitz. The final purportedly contained the body of 32-year-old Shiri.
Israeli officials quickly concluded the remains were not hers, but that of an anonymous Gazan woman. Hamas claims they did not intend to deceive Israel.
The cruelty Hamas demonstrated at Thursday’s hostage “transfer” echoes the brutality it unleashed when it killed more than 1,200 Israeli civilians on October 7.
Masked soldiers paraded the coffins through a crowd of Gazans and militants while upbeat music played over loudspeakers. One poster boasted a caricature of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Another threatened that even more hostages would return in coffins if Israel broke the groups’ tentative ceasefire.
“The State of Israel bows its head to two small children, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, and to Oded Lipshitz, one of the founders of Kibbutz Nir Oz,” Netanyahu said in a statement Friday morning. “All three were murdered with terrible cruelty in Hamas captivity in the first weeks of the war.”
Hamas’ gleeful disregard for life renewed calls to destroy the group, but analysts believe Israel won’t initiate hostilities before Saturday, when Hamas is scheduled to release six more hostages, according to The New York Times.
Yarden, the Bibas’ father and the family’s only surviving member, was among the hostages released on February 1.
The tragic end of the Bibas family, and the uncertain fate of the remaining hostages brings three Bible verses to mind.
Isaiah 57:15 addresses the Israelites held captive in Babylon who, after the destruction of the temple, likely believed God no longer dwelt among them. It reads:
God is not, and never has been, aloof from the pain of His people. Though He rightly occupies the high and holy place, He chooses to dwell with the broken among us — the abandoned, hopeless, beaten and wounded.
Matthew 19:14 reads:
God does not abide harming children. He loves the Bibas brothers and knows exactly what happened to them.
Romans 12:19 instructs believers what to do with the pain and anger we feel in the wake the Bibas family’s death.
Please join the Daily Citizen and Focus on the Family President Jim Daly in praying for the Bibas family, the release of the remaining hostages and that God’s righteous will be done in the region.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Jesus Christ” (Philippians 4:6-7).
Additional Articles and Resources
Iran, Hezbollah and How They Effect the Israel-Hamas War
Praise God for Latest Israel News More Than 90 Hamas Hostages Released
The Syrian Genocide Should Embarrass Pro-Hamas Protesters
Six Lies Hamas Tells You, Debunked
Tragedy in Israel and the Gift of a Soft Heart
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