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  Thousands of mourners have gathered on the streets of Israel for the funeral procession of Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, Ariel and Kfir, who were kidnapped by Hamas during an attack on Israel in October 2023.

Ms Bibas, 32, and her children, a four-year-old and a nine-month-old, were among the victims of the brutal assault on the Niz Or kibbutz.

As people mourned with Israeli flags and orange balloons, members of the Bibas family have been very active in protests, turning the color orange into a symbol of their fight for justice and the release of the “ginger babies”.

Hamas recently returned the bodies of Ms. Bibas and her children as part of a Gaza ceasefire agreement, initially causing outrage by sending the wrong body before correcting the error. The funeral will be a private ceremony, with burials planned near the Niz Or kibbutz, alongside Ms. Bibas’s parents who were also victims of the attack. The father, Yarden Bibas, was freed on February 1st.
Hamas claims that the family was killed in an Israeli airstrike, which Israel denies, stating they were killed by their captors. Kfir, the youngest of about 30 children abducted by Hamas, had become a well-known figure in Israel, with his story being highlighted by Israeli leaders globally. The body of journalist Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 when abducted, was also repatriated. This exchange was part of a broader agreement that will see living Israeli hostages swapped with Palestinian prisoners. The display involving armed Hamas militants handing over the remains was criticized by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the UN human rights chief Volker Turk as despicable, cruel, and inhumane.

Source: https://news.sky.com/story/thousands-line-streets-in-israel-for-bibas-family-funeral-procession-13317329