Following a forensic assessment of the bodies of Kfir and Ariel Bibas, the Israel Defense Forces announced on Friday that Hamas terrorists killed the young boys “with their bare hands.”
Kfir was nine months old when he was kidnapped, and Ariel was 4.
In a statement, Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said Hamas’ claims that the brothers were killed in an IDF airstrike are false.
“Ariel and Kfir Bibas were murdered by terrorists in cold blood,” Hagari said. “The terrorists did not shoot the two young boys—they killed them with their bare hands.”
He added that the terrorists “committed horrific acts to cover up these atrocities.” According to the IDF, Hamas attempted to make the bodies appear as if an airstrike had killed them. Hagari cited the forensic findings and intelligence to support his assessment.
The IDF confirmed the remains of the boys on Thursday after they underwent an identification process by the National Institute of Forensic Medicine in collaboration with the Israel Police.
The IDF concluded from intelligence and from the forensic findings that Ariel and Kfir were brutally murdered in captivity in November 2023.
Hagari said the findings were shared with Israel’s global allies so “the entire world will know exactly how the Hamas terrorist organization operates.”
The IDF also stated that the remains handed over by Hamas on Thursday that were purported to be Shiri Bibas, the boys’ mother, were not her or any other hostage. Israel received the anonymous body along with the Bibas brothers and Oded Lifshitz after the terror group paraded them on stage in front of cheering crowds in a propaganda spectacle.
“The abduction and murder in captivity of Oded, Ariel, and baby Kfir, all innocent civilians, are crimes against humanity,” Hagari said. “The whole world must condemn these barbaric acts of terror. We demand that Hamas release Shiri in accordance with the agreement.”
The coffins each had a picture of the hostages with a sticker that said “date of arrest October 7 2023.”
On the stage was a picture of the four fallen hostages with an image of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu depicted as a vampire with the text, “This War Criminal Netanyahu & His Nazi Army Killed Them with Missiles from Zionist Warplanes.” There was also a missile with a sign in English reading, “They were killed by USA bombs.”
Four masked men carried the coffins, each wearing a headband symbolizing a different Palestinian terrorist organization, including Hamas, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Palestinian Mujahideen Movement’s Mujahideen Brigades, and Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Brigade. Fatah is chaired by Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority, which controls the Palestinian areas of Judea and Samaria, also known as the West Bank.
Hamas threatened to keep the bodies after the Red Cross initially refused to take part in the handover ceremony, according to Israel’s Channel 12. Red Cross representatives eventually gave in and signed documents on stage to receive the bodies.
The coffins were then transported to the Israel Defense Forces in the Gaza Strip, where they underwent an evaluation by a bomb squad to ensure the terrorists did not booby trap them, as they had done to other bodies of others who had been taken on October 7.
The IDF wrapped the coffins in Israeli flags, and the Military Rabbinate chief, Brigadier-General Rabbi Eyal Krim, recited Psalm 83.
The Lifshitz family received final confirmation that Oded’s body had been identified only hours after he arrived for identification.
“503 agonizing days of uncertainty have come to an end,” the family said in a statement. “We had hoped and prayed so much for a different outcome. Now we can mourn the husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather who has been missing from us since October 7. Our family’s healing process will begin now and will not end until the last hostage is returned.”
The news of the death of Ariel and Kfir has sparked international outrage and brought the total number of children from Israel who have died in the fallout of the October 7 attacks to 55.
