Bibas family demands Israeli government stops using captives' deaths in public

Relatives of two Israeli infants and their mother who died in captivity in Gaza have demanded Benjamin Netanyahu and his government stop using their deaths for political gain.

Shiri Bibas and her children, Ariel and Kfir, aged four years old and nine months respectively, were abducted by the Mujahideen Brigades, a small armed group that operates in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, during the Hamas-led 7 October 2023 attack on Israel. 

Hamas said they were killed in an Israeli air strike on Gaza in November 2023. Yarden Bibas, Shiri's husband, was released last month during phase one of a ceasefire deal agreed between Hamas and Israel.

Last week, military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said Israel had intelligence that they were already dead but could not announce it to the public, despite demanding on numerous occasions that the family be returned alive.

He also denied that they were killed in an Israeli air strike and claimed they were “killed with bare hands”, without providing further detail or evidence.

Middle East Eye could not independently verify the circumstances of the childrens' deaths. 

Ofri Bibas, Yarden's sister, on Tuesday slammed Netanyahu in a Facebook post for repeatedly mentioning the deaths of Shiri, Ariel and Kfir, and releasing confidential information. 

'So if I could say one thing to everyone on behalf of the Bibas family, just shut up'

- Ofri Bibas, sister of former captive Yarden Bibas 

In a videotaped speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee on Tuesday, Netanyahu detailed the deaths of the three, against the wishes of the family. 

He spoke about the family during a speech at a military ceremony on Sunday, where he held up a picture of them. 

Ynet reported that the family has since sent a cease and desist letter, demanding that the prime minister and other government officials and bodies refrain from publishing information about them.

Meanwhile, the lawyer representing the Bibas family, Dana Pugach, approached several officials on Monday, including in the foreign ministry, top military officers and Netanyahu, to stress that releasing details on the deaths should only be done by the family.

"The family must not be pressured to allow these murders to be exploited for so-called public purposes," she said.

In her post, Ofri Bibas said that revealing details about the family's cause of death was “abuse for its own sake of a family that has gone through 16 months of hell and still has the worst ahead".

"So if I could say one thing to everyone on behalf of the Bibas family, just shut up," she added.

The family also requested that media outlets “stop adding details to the fact that Shiri and the kids were murdered by their captors" through a statement on Saturday published by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

Israel Hayom reported that the Bibas family also requested that no representatives of the government attend their funeral, which was held on Wednesday and attended by thousands of members of the public.