The news nobody wanted to hear came today

Mourning the loss of the Bibas babies and their mom*

The news nobody wanted to hear came today.

The video of a terrified mom and her two red-headed babies being kidnapped from their home was one of the first videos I remember seeing on Oct. 7.

Terrorists wearing civilian clothing broke into the home of a young family and abducted Shiri Bibas and her sons Ariel, 4, and Kfir, 9 months, from Nir Oz, a kibbutz in southern Israel. The boy’s father, Yarden Bibas, was kidnapped separately and was released on Feb. 1. This week, more than 500 days since their abduction, Hamas announced that they will be returning the bodies of Shiri, Ariel and Kfir to Israel.

Announcements also confirmed the deaths of Itzik Elgart, a 70-year-old dual Danish-Israeli citizen; Oded Lifshitz, 84, a retired journalist and peace activist; and Ohad Yahalomi, 50, all who were abducted from their homes in Nir Oz.

A fourth hostage’s death was also confirmed: Tsachi Idan, 50. Terrorists streamed videos of him and his family being held captive on the kitchen floor in their home in Nahal Oz. They used his wife’s phone to stream the family live on her Facebook page, right after the terrorists broke into their home and shot through the safe room door, killing the oldest daughter, Maayan, 18.

This wasn’t the only video streaming on social media from southern Israel and Gaza on Oct. 7 - Hamas was posting all these types of videos throughout the day, obviously taking great pride in their brutality. Somebody filmed the video of Shiri surrounded by terrorists and holding her babies close with terror on her face. Somebody filmed that. Was it one of the “reporters” that covered all the barbaric acts of Oct. 7, like the one who won an Associated Press Award for their photo of 22-year-old Shani Louk murdered in the back of a pick-up truck driving through Gaza?

I know there are so many horrible things going on all around the world right now that people are dealing with - wars, health issues, job and home losses, extreme weather conditions, the list goes on and on. I understand that the Israel-Hamas war isn’t on everyone’s mind, as it is on mine these past 500 days. But it’s more than just feeling empathy for those who are directly affected by the war - those who lost loved ones on Oct. 7, the survivors, the hostages, the family members of the hostages, the family members of the soldiers who were killed or injured, those who were displaced by the war, etc.

It’s also shock and anger at society in general who justify the barbaric actions. Those who tore up posters of the hostages - including the posters of a 9-month-old and his 4-year-old brother. It’s those who are comparing the innocent hostages to the Palestinian prisoners who are being released in the “deal” - comparing a baby and a 4-year-old to those who have murdered others, committed acts of terror, etc. It’s a deep disappointment in fellow humans who are harassing Jewish people and vandalizing Jewish buildings in other parts of the world because of the Israel-Gaza war.

Six additional hostages are scheduled to be released this weekend.

It’s been such a relief to see the hostages who have come home, although heartbreaking at the same time.

When Sagui Dekel-Chen was kidnapped, his wife was 7 months pregnant so he got to meet his daughter, who is now 2, for the first time. (When SkyNews reported on the release, the reporter said, “We understand that he has been given a gold coin (by Hamas) to give to his new little baby girl who was born two months after he was taken hostage,” as if it was a thoughtful gift from Hamas - as if they weren’t the one that robbed him of that time with his family in the first place.)

Alexander (Sasha) Troufanov was reunited with his mom and girlfriend, but found out his father was murdered on Oct. 7. Iair Horn was kidnapped with his brother Eitan, who is still held hostage.

In exchange for these three civilians, 369 Palestinian prisoners were released, including those who were convicted for their roles in suicide bombings, deadly attacks against Israelis and attempted murder.

As in past hostage releases, Hamas paraded out the hostages onto a stage and gave them gift bags. This time, there was another new banner with a background of Jerusalem with the words “O Jerusalem, Bear Witness: We are Your Soldiers” and another banner that showed maps of the communities they attacked, with the words “We crossed over swiftly.”

The photos of the kibbutzim on the banner also had upside down red triangles (which represents violent Palestinian resistance against Israel and was also used by Nazis to identify political dissidents) and bloody footprints, as well as the names of the towns they invaded, so by displaying this, they are basically bragging about murdering children, elderly and entire families.

Hamas members paraded the hostages near these banners that had pictures of the southern Israel towns, with gift bags in hand. In another evil gesture, Hamas also gave one of the hostages an hourglass to hold up, with an image of another hostage who hasn’t been released yet, with the words “time is running out.” As hostages are struggling to survive in underground tunnels and Palestinian families in Gaza are sleeping in the rubble of their homes, Hamas is designing and printing new banners and preparing gift bags, likely paid for by humanitarian aid.

Hey, U.S. college students who spent last year in their campus encampments decorated with Hamas flags, are you still cheering on these monsters? Are those of you who were holding up traffic, blocking city streets and vandalizing buildings during protests calling for jihad, is this really the kind of world you would like to live in?

*Update from later in the day: By the end of the day, the IDF announced that the bodies that were returned were of the Bibas babies and Oded Lifshitz, but the woman’s body in the fourth coffin was not Shiri Bibas and it’s not known at this time who it is. Then another update later in the day: Hamas returned another body overnight and that one was Shiri Bibas. Learn more heartbreaking and horrific details here.