‘I’m sorry I brought you into such a cruel world’: Yarden Bibas marks 3rd birthday of son Kfir, killed in Hamas captivity

By Jessica Steinberg

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18 January 2026, 11:24 am

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Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center

The Bibas family, father Yarden, mother Shiri, baby Kfir and four-year-old Ariel, were taken captive by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023 from Kibbutz Nir Oz. (Courtesy)

Former hostage Yarden Bibas marks what would have been the third birthday of his younger son, Kfir, killed by Hamas terrorists in captivity, apologizing for bringing him into “such a cruel world.”

Kfir Bibas was less than a year old when he, his older brother Ariel, 4, and their mother, Shiri Bibas, 32, were abducted on October 7 by terrorists from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz and murdered in captivity.

“My beloved Kfir, you managed to be evacuated from home because of a round of fighting in Gaza just a few months after you were born,” writes Bibas. “You managed to taste solid food, you started crawling, and you even got to celebrate your brother’s 4th birthday… You didn’t get to celebrate your first birthday, so how can I mark your third birthday?”

“Kfir, I’m sorry I brought you into such a cruel world,” posts Bibas. “I hope you know how much I love you and how much I miss you!”

Bibas includes a photo of himself holding baby Kfir, and writes that he’s sure his baby son is celebrating in heaven.

Heartbreaking post from Yarden Bibas:
“My beloved kfir, You didn’t get to celebrate your first birthday… so how can I mark your third birthday?

Kfir, I’m sorry that I brought you into such a cruel world.

I hope you know how much I love you and how much I miss you.

I’m sure… pic.twitter.com/kl1ag9QGsT

— LTC Nadav Shoshani (@LTC_Shoshani) January 18, 2026

“I’m sure Mom is giving you the best, happiest birthday possible, just the way she knows how,” he writes. “I love you more than anything in the world, always in the world,” with three orange hearts posted at the end.

Yarden Bibas was taken captive separately from his family and held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, and freed in February 2025 with Keith Siegel and Ofer Calderon as part of a hostage deal after 484 days in captivity in the Gaza Strip.

That same month, Hamas released the bodies of Kfir and Ariel along with an additional body. During the identification process, it was found that the body received was not that of Shira Bibas.

At the end of February, Shiri Bibas’s body was identified and released back to Israel. The bodies of Shira, Ariel and Kfir Bibas were buried at Kibbutz Nir Oz.