'The days only get harder': Yarden Bibas remembers Ariel on his seventh birthday
“Chuki, I can't lift you up in your birthday chair, and I also don't get to see you excitedly open all the presents you would have received," his father, Yarden Bibas, wrote.
Yarden Bibas marked what would have been his son Ariel's seventh birthday on Wednesday, remembering the boy who was abducted and murdered by Hamas. Ariel, born on August 5, 2019, was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz during the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, along with his mother, Shiri, and baby brother, Kfir. The family became a symbol of the hostage crisis due to their distinctive red hair. Yarden Bibas, who was abducted separately and released in February 2025, is the sole surviving member of his immediate family.
“Instead of celebrating your birthday, instead of going with Mom to buy things for your birthday party, I'm sitting here beside you ... In the only place where I feel closest to you,”
Yarden wrote in a message to his son, expressing that “The longing grows stronger day by day, and the feelings of loneliness and absence only intensify.” He also hoped that Ariel was being celebrated in heaven.
© All rights to the original article belong to the source. Din Online shows a headline, an excerpt and a link only. The objectivity rating is computed automatically and is an estimate only.
Discussion
No comments yet — be the first to comment.