On Thursday, Israel faced another horrifying chapter in the ongoing hostage crisis. After 503 days in captivity, the remains of Oded Lifshitz, Ariel Bibas, and Kfir Bibas were returned, alongside a fourth body that was not that of Shiri Bibas. The fate of Shiri remains unknown, leaving her family and the entire country in a state of anguish and rage. But this was not just another tragedy—this was barbarism, a war crime of the worst kind.
Forensic reports have now confirmed what we all feared: Hamas did not just abduct these children; they brutally murdered them in captivity in November 2023. Kfir Bibas was just ten months old. Ariel was four. “The two children were brutally murdered in captivity by terrorists in November 2023, just a month after their abduction,” the forensic reports stated.
The terrorists who carried out these acts are monsters, devoid of any human decency. This was not collateral damage, not an unfortunate consequence of war—this was intentional, cold-blooded murder.
The world must know the truth. Hamas did not just take hostages; they slaughtered infants in the darkness of their tunnels, then callously returned the wrong body in a twisted mockery of basic humanity.
Their cruelty knows no bounds. They paraded our children’s remains like trophies, and then, as if to add another layer of horror, they failed to even return their mother’s body. “Instead of returning Shiri, the mother of Kfir and Ariel, Hamas returned an unidentified body, as if it were a worthless shipment,” Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations wrote on X. This is a new low, an evil and cruelty with no parallel.
As the Israel Embassy to the US stated: “Hamas sent home the murdered boys without their mother. Depraved monsters.” The world cannot remain silent.
Those who have called for ceasefires, who have demanded negotiations with Hamas, must now ask themselves: How do you negotiate with monsters? How do you make peace with those who murder babies and celebrate their deaths? Hamas-supporting parents and their children stood by in Gaza, watching the spectacle of Israeli children’s bodies being paraded around. What kind of society allows such evil to flourish?
Israel must respond with the full force of its power. This is no longer just about retrieving hostages; this is about eradicating a force of pure evil. There is no justification, no rationalization, and no compromise to be made with those who revel in the suffering of innocents.
Every remaining terrorist must know that there will be no safe haven, no escape from justice. “This is a very serious violation by the Hamas terrorist organization, which is required by the agreement to return four dead hostages. We demand that Hamas return Shiri home along with all our hostages,” the IDF declared.
World leaders have also expressed their outrage. The Office of the President of Argentina released a statement condemning Hamas, declaring two days of national mourning for Ariel and Kfir and stating that the terrorist group “must be reduced to ashes and become nothing more than a horrible memory in world history.”
The Jewish Federations expressed their horror, calling Hamas’s deception a form of “cruel and deceitful psychological warfare against the Bibas family, the State of Israel, and the Jewish people.”
The Orthodox Union pointed to the infamous image of Shiri Bibas shielding her children as Hamas terrorists abducted them, stating, “For 500 days we hoped that the joyous innocence of Ariel and Kfir would overcome the darkness of their captors, but only because we continue to naively underestimate the depths of Hamas’ depravity.”
The Anti-Defamation League posted an image of Ariel and Kfir in Batman costumes with the words, “They were babies. Innocent babies. May their memory be a blessing.”
Battles to come
For 16 months, Israelis have taken to the streets, torn between hope and despair, knowing that each day could bring either miraculous reunions or gut-wrenching funerals. This time, we were confronted with the worst-case scenario. But if Hamas believes that murdering children will break our resolve, they are mistaken.
The flame of hope must not be extinguished, but it must now be accompanied by the fire of retribution. The return of our hostages is still our sacred mission, but we must also ensure that those responsible for these atrocities are met with absolute destruction.
This editorial has been updated according to the update on the identities of the slain hostages bodies.
Jesus Christ is King
