With orange balloons, a cake, and a table laden with treats, the children's home at Kibbutz Nir Oz celebrated the first birthday of baby Kfir Bibas, who was abducted with his family – mother Shiri, father Yarden, and brother Ariel – to Gaza.
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Kfir's birthday, marked on Wednesday, was symbolically observed during a special media tour for local and international press at Kibbutz Nir Oz, where a quarter of its members were either abducted or killed in the October 7 massacre. The "World's Saddest Birthday" will be commemorated at the in Tel Aviv.
The children's home still awaits the return of Kfir, the youngest captive, his crib and pacifier untouched. "We're celebrating his first birthday, and he's not here," said Yossi Schneider, Shiri's cousin. "A quarter of Kfir's life has been spent underground, away from daylight."
The Bibas family has become one of the most poignant symbols of the massacre. The father Yarden was also abducted to Gaza on that fateful Saturday, with the last sign of life from him being in a propaganda video published by Hamas from captivity.
On the morning of October 7, Yarden managed to message his sister Ofri, "It feels like the end," he wrote to her at 09:09 AM, "I'm not joking, I'm terrified. There are no reports, nothing. I can hear their (Hamas terrorists') screams." At 09:43 he wrote, "They are entering," and since then, contact with him has been lost.
Sharon Aloni-Cunio, who returned from Hamas captivity with her daughters Emma and Yuli as part of a prisoner exchange deal after more than 50 days in Gaza, also participated in the tour.
Her partner, David Cunio, is still held captive. "We are standing in what was my home until October 7," Sharon said while standing amid the ruins of her completely burnt house.
"There used to be children's laughter and happy family photos here. We thought it was the best place to raise our daughters, in the open air and with freedom. Behind that fence outside, my husband David, my sister Daniel, my niece Emilia, our twins, and I were taken to Gaza. This is where our girls took their first steps and laughed their first laughs. Now everything is burnt."
Aloni-Cunio described her ordeal since returning from captivity and her struggle to free David. "Every day that David and the other 135 hostages are held against their will is another day I don't know if I'll ever see him again,” she said.
“One can only imagine the conditions there now, after 102 days. I can't sleep, I have nightmares, the girls ask why daddy hasn't returned from Gaza, questions I can't answer. I wake up every day to fulfill my promise to David: to voice his plight and fight for him until he returns."