The South African Zionist Federation (SAZF) is shattered by the devastating confirmation that the youngest hostages taken during Hamas’s October 7 brutal assault on Israel are no longer alive. The heart-wrenching news, confirmed Wednesday night by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters, has left an indelible wound on Israel and Jewish communities worldwide.
Shiri Bibas, 32, and her two small children – four-year-old Ariel and nine-month-old Kfir – were torn from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz during Hamas’s barbaric invasion. In an act of desperate heroism, their father Yarden left their safe room to distract the gunmen, hoping to save his beloved family. Instead, all four were taken captive, separated during their ordeal. While Yarden was freed on February 1, the fate of his wife and children remained an open wound until this tragic confirmation.
“The Bibas family embodied the purest essence of love and innocence,” says Rolene Marks, Spokesperson for the SAZF. “Shiri wasn’t just an accountant and mother; she was a nurturing presence for every child in her kibbutz community. Little Ariel, with his endearing passion for Batman and tractors, carried the wonder of childhood in his eyes. Baby Kfir, whose distinctive red hair and radiant smile captured hearts worldwide, will never speak his first words or take his first steps.”
The confirmation of their deaths arrives alongside equally heartbreaking news about Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 when abducted. A grandfather and peace activist, Lifshitz had dedicated himself to transporting children from Gaza suffering from cancer to Israeli hospitals before Palestinian Islamic Jihad kept him captive. His wife Yocheved, seized separately that fateful day from Kibbutz Nir Oz, was released by Hamas after 16 days of captivity. Today, their families face the grim task of receiving his remains.
“Ariel and Kfir became powerful symbols of the unconscionable brutality unleashed on October 7,” Marks continues. “Their innocent faces served as a haunting reminder of the darkness that descended upon Israel that day, challenging the world’s moral conscience.”
The SAZF stands in profound solidarity with our beloved Israel and the global Jewish community. Our collective heart is broken, but our resolve remains unshaken. This tragedy draws a stark, undeniable line between acts of terror and a nation’s right to defend its citizens. There can be no moral equivalence between a terrorist organisation that invaded sovereign territory—murdering, burning, and abducting civilians—and Israel’s unwavering right to respond in self-defence and rescue its citizens from captors intent on inflicting further suffering.
“While our hearts remain fractured by this profound loss,” Marks concludes, “we find solace in knowing these pure souls, once subjected to unimaginable cruelty on Earth, have found eternal peace. Their blessed memory will forever strengthen our determination to prevent such atrocities from befalling our People again.”
