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Every time Ofri Bibas-Levy hears a car approaching her house, her heart skips a beat. She’s certain that army officials are coming to tell her that her brother Yarden, sister-in-law Shiri and their two little redheaded boys are dead.

“Unfortunately, this is the more common scenario going through my head instead of them coming to tell me that they were rescued,” Bibas-Levy said in a press conference marking a year since the Bibas family was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz by Hamas terrorists.

Ariel Bibas, who recently turned five, and Kfir, whose first birthday in January was spent in captivity, are the youngest hostages still unaccounted for. Relatives know nothing about their fate except that released hostages saw Yarden separated from his wife and sons.

Yifat Zailer, a cousin of Shiri Bibas, in the destroyed daycare at Kibbutz Nir Oz holding a poster of Kfir Bibas. Photo by Adar Eyal

Bibas-Levy gave birth to her third child four months ago yet finds it difficult to celebrate even the happiest moments in life.

“The most difficult thing is just not knowing where my family is, not knowing what they are going through, not knowing if they are dead or alive, not knowing if they’re being tortured, not knowing if they have food or water,” she said.

“It’s those thoughts that are with me every day, all day and night. Every time I make a cup of coffee or take a shower or play with my kids, immediately I’m thinking of them and what did they eat today — if they ate anything today — and did they get something to drink and when was the last time they saw the light of the sun.” 

This constant anxiety, she said, “is like a stone sitting on your heart. You can’t breathe properly. You can’t live your life. I have not worked for the last year. I am always trying to think what else can we do to bring them back.”

On Kibbutz Nir Oz alone, 40 residents were murdered on that hellish Saturday morning and 71 were kidnapped – in total, a quarter of the tiny village’s population. A year later, 29 Nir Oz residents, including the Bibas family, remain in Hamas captivity along with nearly 100 others.

“We are starting a new year,” Bibas-Levy noted, speaking about Rosh Hashana, “but our lives are still stuck in the 7th of October.”

Time to stop and remember

“It seems like time has passed so quickly and yet it feels like 100 years,” said Yifat Zailer, a cousin of Shiri Bibas. 

Margit and Yossi Silverman were murdered in their home by Hamas terrorists. Photo courtesy of Media Central

“On October 7, Shiri’s parents – my aunt and uncle, Margit and Yossi Silverman – were murdered. It took two weeks to find their remains. They were considered missing and later kidnapped because their phones were located inside Gaza. Later we learned that the phones were just stolen like a lot of things that [the terrorists] took from their house before they burned it to the ground with them inside.”

She said that she hasn’t mourned her aunt and uncle properly until now because she has been consumed with the effort of trying to get the Bibas family back home. 

Kfir Bibas turned 1 in January, in Gaza captivity. Photo courtesy of Media Central

Now, she said, “it is time to stop and think and remember. I didn’t allow myself to do this throughout the year because I needed every piece of strength I had to keep myself together and fight this fight for my family. But now we have to go to the grave of my aunt and uncle and I have to be not just Shiri’s cousin but Margit and Yossi’s niece.”

After this short pause, Zailer will go back to reminding the world about her cousin.

“We can never stop telling the story of our family and who we are as people. From the bottom of our heart, we are peaceful people; we don’t celebrate death. Despite what happened to us, in our darkest time, we can still find compassion and we ask this compassion from the world. We’ve been trying to find faith in humanity again.”

Ariel Bibas dressed in a Batman t-shirt. Photo courtesy of Media Central

She is haunted to think of Yarden, who turns 35 on October 10, “sitting in captivity for a year thinking he lost everything he loves in life.”

Zailer implored people to “please talk about Kfir and Ariel. Please talk about Shiri and Yarden — innocent civilians who were taken a year ago and no one knows what happened to them. Every human right was taken from them on that day. It’s like they just vanished. Where are they?”

Our only hope

Yarden’s cousin, Tomer Keshet, said family members have met with influential individuals and government officials in Europe, Qatar and North and South America, seeking their help in making the world believe what happened and in rescuing the Bibas family and all the hostages.

Tomer Keshet travels the world talking to influential individuals and government officials seeking help for his kidnapped cousins. Photo courtesy of Media Central

“I met with top US senators, the House Speaker, even Hillary Clinton. I met with Jerry Seinfeld. They always listen, give us a shoulder to cry on, maybe a hug, and then they say that they will do some things to help us. But [our family is] not here yet, so sometimes these efforts feel unproductive,” he said. 

“The moment the world will lose interest in the hostages is the moment they will die.”

“It’s a horrible feeling to meet all of these people that have major influence all over the world and not get our family back. But we’ll continue to do it, even if sometimes it feels like it’s futile,” Keshet stated. 

“We don’t know what else can be done to get them back. Talking about them, maintaining public interest, is our only hope. Because the moment the world will lose interest in the hostages is the moment they will die.”

Bibas-Levy said that for her and the rest of the family, “talking about Yarden and Shiri and sharing their story is keeping them alive and not just posters on the wall. I can’t control when and how they’re going to come back or if they will manage to survive until then, but being active is what gives me some kind of control in the situation.”

Ofri Bibas-Levy and her nephew and daughter, in happier times. Photo courtesy of Media Central

Zailer concluded: “We need our children to know that we are doing everything we can to help our family in the most impossible situation. And that gives me hope, because we need to raise our children not to hate and not to be afraid for the future here in the Middle East.”

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