JNS
"The brutal murder of the Bibas family by Hamas will forever be a scar on the soul of the Jewish people. This should be a scar on the soul of the whole world,” said Danny Danon, the Israeli ambassador to the global body.
Dozens of United Nations ambassadors attended a ceremony at U.N. headquarters in New York City on Monday that memorialized Oded Lifshitz and Shiri Bibas—and her sons Ariel and Kfir—all four of whom were murdered by Hamas and whose bodies Israel redeemed last week from the Gaza Strip.
At first, Hamas returned a body that it claimed was Shiri Bibas, but Israeli authorities said that an autopsy revealed that it belonged to an unnamed person. Hamas subsequently returned her body, which Israel confirmed. Israeli autopsies also revealed that the four civilians were killed brutally in captivity.
“The brutal murder of the Bibas family by Hamas will forever be a scar on the soul of the Jewish people. This should be a scar on the soul of the whole world,” Danny Danon, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, said at the ceremony. “Silence is tantamount to support for terrorism and the pure evil of Hamas.”
The Israeli mission to the United Nations organized the event, which included a condolence book for attendees to sign on a table lined with candles, in full view of a photo of Lifshitz, 86, a journalist and peace activist, and of a photo of 4-year-old Ariel Bibas holding Kfir, then an infant.
After a moment of silence, attendees saw a short presentation, of home videos from the Bibas family and footage of Hamas kidnapping them and of the terror group’s propaganda ceremony before returning their bodies, all set to the Eden Golan song “October Rain.”
Danon chastised the global body for its silence on behalf of Israeli victims, despite its extensive criticism of Israel’s prosecution of its war against Hamas.
“The U.N. passed countless resolutions on Israel and held countless emergency sessions, but when a baby, a toddler and their mother were taken from their home, when these terrorists massacred babies, entire families, the international community had nothing to say,” the Israeli envoy said.
“Israel will not be silent. We will continue to say their names—Kfir, Ariel, Shiri and Oded,” Danon added. “We will ensure that their memory will be remembered forever. We will make Hamas pay. We won’t stop until everyone comes home.”
Yarden Bibas, Shiri’s husband and Ariel’s and Kfir’s father, who was released on Feb. 1, holds Argentine citizenship through Shiri, who was a dual Israeli-Argentine citizen. Ricardo Lagorio, the Argentine ambassador to the United Nations, addressed attendees at the ceremony.
“We cannot forget what happened. What happened on Oct. 7 was not just another attack in this long conflict. It was the manifestation of silence,” he said. “In the face of such horror, we cannot afford silence and complicity. Israel has the right to defend itself.”
Danon thanked Lagorio and the Argentine government for its call for two days of national mourning over the murder of the Bibases.
At least six Argentine citizens are still being held by Hamas, according to Argentine authorities. Seven Argentine nationals were killed during the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and 15 were taken hostage.
“On the one hand, I saw the purest form of life. On the other, the most brutal form of brutality,” Lagorio said at the ceremony of his visit to Israel’s devastated southern communities.
Danon and Lagorio wore orange ribbon pins, marking the Bibas children’s distinctive hair color, on their left jacket lapels.
Benny Rogosnitzky, the cantor at Park East Synagogue in Manhattan, concluded the ceremony by chanting Jewish mourning prayers and Israel’s national anthem.
Noa Argamani, a hostage whom Israeli security forces rescued in a daring operation in June 2024, was slated to brief the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday morning during its regular monthly meeting on the Israeli-Palestinian file. No other hostage rescued from Gaza has appeared previously before the U.N.’s most powerful body.
“Thank you, Noa. We thank you for your courage and for speaking out clearly on behalf of those who have returned home and on behalf of those who are still in captivity,” Danon said on Tuesday.
After she briefs the Security Council, Danon planned to tell the Security Council that “today, you were exposed to the moving testimony of Noa Argamani. Tomorrow, the State of Israel will lay to rest Shiri Bibas, and her children Kfir and Ariel, who were barbarically murdered by Hamas terrorists,” according to the Israeli mission to the United Nations.
“Believe me when I tell you that we are determined to return all the hostages home and eliminate Hamas,” Danon planned to add.
