It's been 80 days since 11-month-old Kfir, four-year-old Ariel, and their parents, Shirel and Yarden Bibas, were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz by Hamas terrorists during the October 7 terror attack.
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Ofri Bibas Levy, Yarden's sister, wrote in a post on social media Monday about how she longs for her family members, recalling the routine moments that now bring tears to her eyes.
"How are we here, and you are there? Why are you still there?" she asked. "The lack of logic in an unimaginable reality – a never-ending bad dream."
Ariel and Kfir remain the last children yet to be released from Hamas captivity in Gaza. Last month, Hamas, as part of its psychological terrorism, claimed that Shirel and the children has been killed, and the next day released a video allegedly showing Yarden learning about "the deaths of his family members." The IDF stated that it is investigating this claim.
In a post shared by Ofri, she wrote: "80 days!!! 80 days!!! I've already gotten used to the 'new routine' of interviews, conversations with senior figures in Israel and abroad, trips and sleepless nights. But when is it the most felt? When are you missed the most? In the small moments that remind you of the old routine – a family outing with the kids, when they run wild in the living room, at a Friday meal, discovering a new place that could be perfect for a Saturday picnic, passing by a meat restaurant that you'd surely love. And then, the tears flow, the longing rises, the lack of logic in this unimaginable reality, an endless bad dream. How are we here, and you are there? Why are you still there? 80 days! Enough."
Kfir turned 11 months last week. "We hope Kfir is there with his family," said Ilan Keshet, cousin of the abducted father, Yarden Bibas, last week. "We don't know if they separated them or not, if Shirel is with him, and if he has human contact. We don't know if he is being fed properly, receiving the necessary vitamins, and meeting his needs. It's so critical, and we really hope irreversible damage won't be done to his development."
Keshet added: "We are extremely concerned about their lives; it's been so much time, and it's very dangerous, especially for a baby whose chances of survival are much lower. Already, he is suffering developmental damage, and we don't want any further harm. This emphasizes the urgency, that there is no reason to wait, and they need to be brought home as one unit."
Keshet addressed Hamas' claim that Shirel and her children are dead. "We have no additional information beyond what the IDF officially said, that they are checking the veracity of the claims."
Regarding Yarden's condition following the release of Hamas's video, he said: "Yarden is also in real danger. We saw the video and how he looks. He has lost a lot of weight; he looks very bad. With the psychological and physical torture he has endured, he could die from it, This is not metaphorically speaking."