The Funeral Procession of Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas
A grim day for a grieving nation
I waited more than an hour this morning for the funeral procession of the Bibas family to arrive.
My kibbutz home is near Sha’ar HaNegev junction, the last gathering spot for people to pay their respects to Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas as they passed on their final journey. Mother and children were laid to rest an hour or so later in a funeral at their home, Kibbutz Nir Oz.
On October 7, 2023, as they huddled, terrified, in their safe room, Yarden and Shiri agreed that he should grab his handgun and fight the invading terrorists. He tried. But Yarden was captured, beaten, and thrown onto a motorcycle. He was whisked into Gaza, where he was beaten viciously by civilians. His head was soaked in blood.
Yarden was then locked in a cage deep in the tunnels with Ofer Kalderon, a 52-year-old father of four also from Kibbutz Nir Oz. Like Yarden, Kalderon had dared to resist Hamas. Both men were punished for their transgression.
Today, Yarden, wearing an orange-colored yarmulke, managed to push through his biblical grief. “I’m sorry I could not protect you”, Yarden apologized when eulogizing his sons, four-year-old Ariel and Kfir, who was 9 months old when murdered.
“If I’d known how it would turn out, I would never have shot [my gun]”, Yarden said to his deceased wife.
It may sound trite but it is anything but. This man’s torment is shared by a nation, which is gutted by this reality we expected. But we dared to hope until the bitter end.
In November 2023, in the tunnel prisons, Hamas forced another Nir Oz hostage (also since murdered) to tell Yarden that his wife and sons had been killed in an Israeli air force strike. The terrorists then immediately turned on a video camera and ordered Yarden to condemn the Israeli government. Prime Minister Netanyahu, and more.
We know now that Hamas lied in November 2023. We know today that Kfir and Ariel were murdered by strangulation. Not with a ligature. With the bare hands of a Hamas monster. So far, the cause of death for Shiri has not been disclosed.
Throughout his captivity and until he was released on February 1 of this year, Yarden Bibas was taunted by his guards about his dead family. One can only imagine.
For almost 17 months, the Bibas family from Kibbutz Nir Oz has stood as an icon of that unfathomably dark day.
Because Yarden had attempted to protect his family, Hamas was even more determined to break into his home. Unable to force open the front door, they attacked it with a drill. They brutally forced Shiri and her boys outside. She was wearing pajamas, so the priority for the Islamists was to cover her body with a blanket. In one video, between shouts of “Allahu Akhbar”, we hear a monster say that they should be covered up. Because. This is their priority.
Shiri’s face was seared with horror as she held her two orange-haired little boys tightly. Baby Kfir’s tiny hand grasped his mother’s pajamas top. Ariel snuggled close to Shiri, a pacifier in his mouth. His eyes seem to want to look at the madness surrounding them, but not.
You can see the horror unfold in this video. Or you can choose not to watch it.
They were taken to Khan Younis by terrorists soon after the famous footage above was filmed.
There is so much to say, but not today. Today the sun shone brightly after so much hard rain. Two sweet little boys and their beautiful mother were laid to rest, alongside their grandparents. Shiri’s mother and father, Margit and Yossi Silberman, were also murdered on October 7 at Kibbutz Nir Oz. The only survivor of that nuclear family is Shiri’s older sister, Dana Silberman Sitton.
Little Ariel’s best friend on the kibbutz, Yoav, is five years old. He cannot comprehend what has happened. His mother, Yamit Avital, spoke about her sad and confused little boy at the support rally for hostage families last Saturday night in Kiryat Gat. We include the link here and urge you to watch the video in full. This is what we have been doing throughout Israel, every Saturday night since October 7, 2023. We meet. Wear yellow. Carry flags. Posters of hostages. Listen to stories and testimonies. It is helpful to be with a community that is in pain together. Each week it is so difficult to go, but we always leave feeling stronger from the unity and collective effort.
Last Saturday, after we knew that Ariel had been murdered, Yoav’s mother shared this story, among others:
From time to time Yoav asks me what is going on with Ariel and Kfir and told me how much he misses and worries about him. He even asked to write him a letter to give to their teacher. So that when Ariel returned she could give it to him. He told me what to write:
‘I’ll draw you Batman and all the flying superheroes so you’ll want to fly over Gaza, fight the bad guys with bows and arrows and then come back to us at kindergarten. I hope you will buy candy and a cape. I miss you.’
A few weeks later, when Ariel had still not returned, little Yuval asked his mother to send a message on the radio so that maybe Ariel will hear and find the strength to return. He would ask if Ariel and Kfir went to kindergarten in Gaza. If they played in the sand.
You can watch the video of her remarks, with subtitles, here:
I stood at Sha’ar HaNegev junction this morning waiting for the funeral procession to arrive, along with thousands of others. Perhaps tens of thousands. We were spread out along various roads. It was an extraordinary scene. People were calm. Chatting quietly. Waiting.
The procession began at 7:15 am in the city of Rishon LeZion, just south of Tel Aviv, and wended its way south slowly. The distance from Rishon to Nir Oz is approximately 90 kilometers and would usually take 90 minutes or so to travel. Today, the procession took three hours to travel the 60 kilometers to the Sha’ar HaNegev junction. All along the way, Israelis waited to pay their respects to this family that has suffered so much.
Below is a video I took of people waiting on Road 232 for the procession to pass. I was standing just a few hundred meters from Sha’ar HaNegev junction.This is the road that Hamas traveled on October 7, which links to so many kibbutzim in the Gaza envelope, as the area close to the Gaza Strip is called. Hamas controlled this road and the Sha’ar HaNegev junction for two days in October, 2023, until the IDF considered it to be secure and in Israeli hands.
Note that people are standing around, chatting quietly. Most waited like this for 60-90 minutes until the procession arrived. This video was taken in the final moments before all vehicles were cleared from the road to prepare for the procession to pass.
People lined the roads wearing orange. Yellow. Batman costumes were here and there—a tribute to Ariel’s love of the superhero. So many flags. Orange balloons in clusters, with some let loose to soar into the blue sky as the vehicles approached.
Below is a video I took of the passing procession. You can see how simple it was. People stood. No jostling. No pushing. No talking. None. It was a dignified show of grief, solidarity, and love. And so much sublimated rage. But not today.
Around 10:15-ish, we heard a helicopter whirring overhead. Soon after came the noisy buzz of drones. And in the distance we saw another helicopter hovering and barely moving. That, we knew, was the procession nearing our patch of road.
From then it was mere minutes—and it was there.
The experience was extraordinary. You can see from the footage I shot that the crowd was quiet as the procession passed. No one spoke. No one moved.
All you hear is the helicopter. We just stood. So closely. There were mere inches between us and the vehicles.
No one touched the vehicles. No one jostled to get closer. Many made hearts with their hands. You can see the man sitting in the front of the big yellow bus holding a small sign with ❤️
The lead vehicles in the procession are police cars and motorcyles. The large blue van is from the Chevrei Kedisha (Jewish burial society that looks after the bodies from time of death until burial, ensuring that religious rituals are observed). The coffin in which Shiri and her boys were buried together was in that van.
Following are two large vehicles transporting close family members. They travelled to be together from Argentina, the United States, and elsewhere. The yellow bus is transporting close friends and others who attended the funeral, which was closed to the public. Understandably so. The whole country would have wanted to attend.
At the end of the brief procession, fittingly, were representatives of first responders on motorcycles. These men and women were so critical in saving lives on October 7 and after.
Batman saluted the convoy as it passed.
And then it ended, as suddenly and unceremoniously as it had begun. The procession carried on to Kibbutz Nir Oz.
The biblical suffering inflicted on this family is impossible to process. But they must and will find a way to move through this hell. In each of the eulogies, the loved one beseeched Shiri and the boys for forgiveness and to watch over them. Give them strength.
Yarden told his boys that he hopes they’re enjoying themselves in heaven.
