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Aunt of Kfir and Ariel Bibas Says Family Not Seeking Revenge on Hamas, Just Wants Missing Hostage Shiri Back

Ariel and Kfir Bibas. Photo: Hostages and Missing Families Forum
Ofri Bibas Levy, the aunt of Ariel and Kfir Bibas, said on Friday that her family is not looking to avenge the death of her two young nephews, who were kidnapped and then “murdered in cold blood” by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip, but instead want to focus solely now on securing the return of their mother, Shiri Bibas.
“Yesterday we received the devastating news of Ariel and Kfir’s murder in captivity,” Levy — who is the sister of Ariel and Kfir’s father, Yarden Bibas — said in a statement shared by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. “We waited for certainty, but it brings no comfort — only profound grief.”
“My sweet nephews were taken alive from their home and murdered by a cruel terrorist organization while in captivity,” the statement continued. “They didn’t deserve such a fate. Our painful journey, which has already lasted 16 months, is not over. Oct. 7 continues. We are still waiting for Shiri and fear for her fate.”
Levy also expressed anger with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for not doing more to secure the safe turn of her sister-in-law, 32, and two nephews after they were abducted from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz by Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023, and held captive in the Gaza Strip. Ariel was 4 years old and Kfir was 10 months old at their time of death in November 2023, according to the Israel Defense Forces. They were held hostage in Gaza for 503 days.
Yarden was also kidnapped but released by Hamas on Feb. 1 as part of a ceasefire agreement between the terrorist group and Israel to halt fighting in Gaza. Hamas claimed they returned Shiri’s dead body on Thursday, along with those of her children and fellow hostage Oded Lifshitz, 84. But upon the body’s return to Israel, forensic examination showed that it did not belong to the mother of two. The Israel Defense Forces said the received body “is not that of Shiri Bibas, and no match was found for any other hostage. This is an anonymous, unidentified body.”
“Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir were taken alive by a murderous terrorist organization, and it was Israel’s responsibility and obligation to bring them back alive,” Levy said in her statement. “There is no forgiveness for abandoning them on Oct. 7, and no forgiveness for abandoning them in captivity. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, we did not receive an apology from you in this painful moment. For Ariel and Kfir’s sake, and for Yarden’s sake, we are not seeking revenge right now. We are asking for Shiri.”
She added that Hamas’s “cruelty only emphasizes the urgent need to bring Shiri back to us, save the lives of the living hostages, and return all the fallen for burial,” before addressing US President Donald Trump and asking him to take action to help Shiri return home.
“President Trump, I am asking you, please help Israel and our family complete this important mission,” she said. “We thank everyone for their support and ask that the family’s privacy be respected. Luli and Firfir, I’m sorry I cannot yet cry for you. We are waiting for Mommy Shiri.”
Kfir and Ariel are duel Israeli-Argentine citizens, by way of their father. Argentina has declared two days of national mourning for the Bibas brothers.
IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said on Friday morning that based on forensics finding from the identification process, examination of Kfir and Ariel’s bodies showed Hamas terrorists killed the young brothers “with their bare hands.”
“Ariel and Kfir Bibas were murdered by terrorists in cold blood,” Hagari said. “The terrorists did not shoot the two young boys — they killed them with their bare hands. Afterwards, they committed horrific acts to cover up these atrocities.” The IDF added that Ariel, Kfir, and Lifshitz were all murdered in November 2023.
Kfir was abducted when he was 9 months old, making him the youngest hostage kidnapped by terrorists from Israel during the Oct. 7 massacre and the youngest to have been killed. He and Ariel’s grandparents, Margit and Yosi, were also murdered by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, as well as the Bibas family dog.
Thursday’s handover of bodies will be followed by the return of six living hostages on Saturday, in exchange for hundreds more Palestinian prisoners, as part of the ongoing Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release deal. The ceasefire went into effect on Jan. 19.
The post Aunt of Kfir and Ariel Bibas Says Family Not Seeking Revenge on Hamas, Just Wants Missing Hostage Shiri Back first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Kurdish-led SDF Say Five Members Killed During Attack by Islamic State in Syria

Islamic State slogans painted along the walls of the tunnel was used by Islamic State militants as an underground training camp in the hillside overlooking Mosul, Iraq, March 4, 2017. Photo: via Reuters Connect.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said on Sunday that five of its members had been killed during an attack by Islamic State militants on a checkpoint in eastern Syria’s Deir el-Zor on July 31.
The SDF was the main fighting force allied to the United States in Syria during fighting that defeated Islamic State in 2019 after the group declared a caliphate across swathes of Syria and Iraq.
The Islamic State has been trying to stage a comeback in the Middle East, the West and Asia. Deir el-Zor city was captured by Islamic State in 2014, but the Syrian army retook it in 2017.
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Armed Groups Attack Security Force Personnel in Syria’s Sweida, Killing One, State TV Reports

People ride a motorcycle past a burned-out military vehicle, following deadly clashes between Druze fighters, Sunni Bedouin tribes, and government forces, in Syria’s predominantly Druze city of Sweida, Syria, July 25, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Armed groups attacked personnel from Syria’s internal security forces in Sweida, killing one member and wounding others, and fired shells at several villages in the violence-hit southern province, state-run Ekhbariya TV reported on Sunday.
The report cited a security source as saying the armed groups had violated the ceasefire agreed in the predominantly Druze region, where factional bloodshed killed hundreds of people last month.
Violence in Sweida erupted on July 13 between tribal fighters and Druze factions. Government forces were sent to quell the fighting, but the bloodshed worsened, and Israel carried out strikes on Syrian troops in the name of the Druze.
The Druze are a minority offshoot of Islam with followers in Syria, Lebanon and Israel. Sweida province is predominantly Druze but is also home to Sunni tribes, and the communities have had long-standing tensions over land and other resources.
A US-brokered truce ended the fighting, which had raged in Sweida city and surrounding towns for nearly a week. Syria said it would investigate the clashes, setting up a committee to investigate the attacks.
The Sweida bloodshed last month was a major test for interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, after a wave of sectarian violence in March that killed hundreds of Alawite citizens in the coastal region.
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Netanyahu Urges Red Cross to Aid Gaza Hostages

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference, in Jerusalem, May 21, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/Pool
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he spoke with the International Red Cross’s regional head, Julien Lerisson, and requested his involvement in providing food and medical care to hostages held in Gaza.