A woman shared a video of herself on Tiktok tearing down posters of Israeli civilian hostages, including 4 year-old Ariel Bibas. Her caption was “they ain’t coming back sweetie”.
Who is Ariel?
Shiri, Yarden, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas, residents of a southern Israeli kibbutz, were reportedly abducted. Shiri, a kindergarten teacher, was seen in a photograph with her 3-year-old son Ariel and 9-month-old Kfir, surrounded by Hamas gunmen.
On the morning of October 7, Yarden Bibas, aged 34, engaged in a series of text messages with his sister, Ofri, to keep her informed about the unfolding situation in Kibbutz Nir Oz, where he resided with his wife, Shiri, aged 32, and their two young sons, Ariel, aged 4, and Kfir, only 9 months old.
At 6:30 a.m., Yarden began sharing information about the rockets that were being launched. Ofri recounted in a Kan interview, “He wrote about the terrorists entering the kibbutz, and then he wrote, ‘Oh no,'”. In subsequent messages, he described the harrowing combat and the immense pressure to resist the influx of Hamas militants into Nir Oz. Unfortunately, these militants went on to commit a horrifying massacre, resulting in the death or abduction of around 180 out of the kibbutz’s 400 residents.
Yarden also confided in his sister that their young children were struggling to remain quiet amidst the chaos. He conveyed a sense of impending doom in his messages.
In a Kan video, Ofri displayed closed-circuit television footage showing Hamas terrorists forcibly gaining access to her brother’s home.
Yarden’s messages to his sister and parents were poignant, expressing his love for them. At 9:45 a.m., he texted, “They’re in.”
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Two hours later, a video surfaced showing Shiri, anxiously cradling both of her sons, Ariel and Kfir, fear etched across her face as she was encircled by terrorists. Yarden, her husband, was conspicuously absent in these videos. Also unaccounted for were Shiri’s parents, Margit Silverman Shnaider and her spouse, Yosi Silverman, who resided in Nir Oz and were initially considered missing, although their bodies were later identified.
The Bibas family eventually discovered a video featuring Yarden, visibly injured with blood around his head, and surrounded by terrorists. A family member aptly described his state as a “living death.” All four members of the Bibas family are currently presumed captives, with Kfir, at just 9 months old, being the youngest among the 200 Israeli hostages in Gaza.
In the Kan video, Ofri affectionately referred to her brother and his family as “the first Yemenite redheads.” Yarden and Shiri had been planning to leave Nir Oz as they grew weary of living in constant fear, the proximity to Gaza, and the frequent rocket attacks. They were actively seeking a new home near Ofri and her family, preferably in the Golan Heights.
