“The Low’s Small Cases are the Dear”: Israel grieves

Cphir and Ariel Bibas were last seen on October 7 with the hands of their mother width around them, sticking to their boys, surrounded by artillery and violence, trying to protect them. It couldn’t.

According to the Israeli army, the last moments of CFIR and Ariel were in the “bare hands” of their abductors.

How do you praise children who have hardly lived their lives?

Cphir Bibas, hostage for only nine months, did not live to take his first steps or to celebrate his first birthday.

Ariel Bibas had only had a four -year life that had to be much longer.

A statement from Kibbutz Nir Oz, from where they were hostage, described CFI as “a calm and smiling baby, with ginger hair and laughter that would make anyone melt the heart. Wherever he goes, he lit it with his smile and joy .

Ariel, they said, was “a playful boy with ginger hair, prying eyes and a big smile. He loved superheroes, tractors and cars and running non-stop, climbing and exploring the world.”

The two brothers became the largest symbol of the hostage nightmare, which the Israelis are durable. Bringing Bibs’s family was a fervent hope in the country.

In the last 16 months, they have been remembered, prayed, kept in the hearts of people, not only in Israel, but also by Jews and others around the world.

The images were shared with the boys in their Batman suits with Ariel’s nose flying the wind; To the greater brother Ariel, hugged his brother Cphir when he was born; Kfir giggled and a buck while his father Yarden played with him.

And then the image slipped into the mind after Hamas’s attack on October 7th: the boys clung to their mother, Bibs, her face was tormented by fear as they were surrounded by artillerymen and taken to Gaza.

No one in Israel wanted this region; Where Kfir and Ariel returned, not in their innocent childhood, but with their gentle years they were already over. And where their mother, who has protected them until the last moment, has not even returned with them.

There is general pain and grief in Israel.

In a video statement, the Israeli Prime Minister said Ariel and Cfir Bibas and 84-year-old Oded Lifshitz, whose body was also returned on Thursday, were “brutally killed by Hamas Savis.”

Holding a photo of the boys, Benjamin Netanyahu said, “Today is a tragic day. This is a day of boundless grief, indescribable pain.

“Their bodies return home to a nation in mourning. A nation that will never forget and never forgive the evil that shortens these beautiful souls … more specially, the children of Bibas became a symbol of who we are and with whom we fight with .

Netanyahu said, “Who abducts a little boy and baby and kills them? Monsters. That’s who.”

Israeli President Isaac Duke said in a statement: “Agony. Pain. Our hearts – the hearts of the whole nation – lie in tearing.” He asked for forgiveness on behalf of the country that he did not protect them and brought them home.

Ariel, Ariel and Cphir Bibas were 32, four and nine months when they were abducted during the attacks on October 7th.

About 1,200 people – mostly civilians – were killed in the attacks and 251 others returned to gas as hostages. Israel has launched a large -scale military campaign against Hamas in response, which died at least 48 297 Palestinians – mainly civilians – according to Hamas Health Ministry.

This week, in Israel and abroad, people on social media have published images of broken orange hearts to represent the boys with the striking ginger hair.

On Thursday, when vehicles with the bodies of the children of Bibas and Odid Lifshitz passed to Israel, the people lining the streets with Israeli flags called “sorry”.

In October 2023, just weeks after they were abducted, the Bibas brothers aunt talked to the BBC.

Ofri Bibas Levy described how Kfir has just started to crawl and eat hard food.

“They are civilians and should not be there. The longer they are there, the more difficult it will be to restore them and the less the chance will come alive,” she said.

On Friday, she wrote on Facebook: “I’m sorry Luli (Ariel), I’m sorry Firfir (Kfir).

“You didn’t deserve any of that. We’ll be missing you forever. We don’t give up on your mother.”

In a video statement, she added: “Shiri, Ariel and CFIR were taken alive by a murderous terrorist organization, and that was the responsibility and obligation of Israel to return them alive.

“There is no forgiveness for their abandonment on October 7th and there is no forgiveness for their abandonment in captivity. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, we have not received an apology from you at this painful moment. We are not looking for revenge right now.

Yarden Bibas, who was only recently released as a hostage, now he has to bury his two young boys, with his wife Shiri not yet returned by Hamas.

In Israel, they quote words that painfully resonate: “The smallest coffins are the most serious.”