Yifat Zailer, cousin of Shiri Bibas, speaks to reporters on December 2, 2023 (Channel 12 screenshot; used in accordance with Cause 27a of the Copyright Law)
Relatives of the Bibas family refuse to be “broken” by a Hamas claim that hostage mother Shiri Bibas and her young children Ariel Bibas, 4, and Kfir Bibas, 10 months old were killed in an Israeli bombing in Gaza, a cousin says.
The three, abducted to Gaza on October 7 from Kibbutz Nir Oz, were supposed to be released last week, according to the IDF. Shiri is among the few mothers still being held in Gaza; Ariel and Kfir are the only young children still held hostage.
Father Yarden was also seized, but taken separately to Gaza.
“We won’t let them break us. We’re continuing to fight for their release and to bring them home,” Yifat Zeilar, a cousin of Shiri Bibas, says in a statement to the press on behalf of the family, speaking on the sidelines of a rally for the hostages in Tel Aviv.
“We should also get to embrace them, and it will happen,” she adds. “Don’t forget us, don’t forget them.”
Holding Guy, her baby son, Zeiler notes that he turned nine months old today. “He was born two months after Kfir. He’s the age Kfir was when he was abducted. They have the right to grow up together.”
Shiri Bibas and her sons Ariel, 4, and baby Kfir, are abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023 (Screenshot)
Zeiler tells Channel 12 news that the family went through “10 disturbing days,” since a truce began on November 24 that was supposed to see the mom and kids freed.
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From the Liveblog of
Saturday, December 2, 2023
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