Ariel and Kfir Vivas were two of the youngest hostages held in Gaza – became Israel’s iconic symbol of Hamas’ atrocities on October 7, 2023. Returning what is presumed to be their bodies on Thursday took another blow to the country, hoping they survived in captivity, and still caught up in Hamas attacks.
The fate of Ariel and Kfir, adducted only four years and nine months, captivated Israelis, and his return, along with his mother, Siri Vivas, brings a tragic measure of closure. country.
However, it is likely to promote anger over the government’s failure to bring 250 hostages back faster and more safely, and could put pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to extend the ceasefire.
The mother and child were captured by Kibbutz nil Oz. A video from Aidation, a horrifying shiribibus rocked her two redheaded boys with blankets, whisked up by armed men, bouncing around the world in hours of attack.
His father, Yalden Vivas, was accused of separately, released and released on February 1 as part of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which suspended the 15-month war in Gaza. It was done. In the first phase, a total of 33 hostages will be released in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Eight of these 33 were said to have died from Israel.
Since his release, Yaden Vivas has been seeking information about his family, and his fate has been unclear for much of the war.
President Donald Trump said during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Tuesday that Palestinians in Gaza should be moved to their new homes.
Hamas released a video of Janden Bibas, who had raised the Yarden Bibas video last year as a sign of life, but his wife and children did not hear anything. The extremist group was filmed for news by filming Yaden Vivas, claiming he was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the first weeks of the war. Israel did not confirm the claim, saying it had “significant concerns” in their lives.
The body released on Thursday was officially identified and could take up to 48 hours.
The boys of Vivas became icons, their light-like transformed the Israelites
The Vivas family’s struggle has become a rallying cry for protesters demanding the release of hostages. Their concern for their well-being grew in the recent weeks when the November 2023 ceasefire released most women and children and the hostages of living women were released.
At just nine months, KFIR was the youngest of around 30 children to be held hostage on October 7th. The toddler with red hair and teethless smiles became an Israeli icon, and his ordeal was raised by Israeli leaders on podiums around the world.
The expanded Vivas family is active in protest, branding orange as a symbol of their fight for the “Ginger Baby”. They marked Kfir Bibas’ first birthday with the release of orange balloons and the lobbying world leader.
The family photos, which were broadcast on television and posted throughout social media, created a national bond with the two boys, making them familiar faces. Israel learns that Ariel Vivas has learned of his love for Batman and his photographs of his happy times. It showed that the whole family had dressed the characters.
The Hostage Family Forum said Gaza still has many hostages that can save lives and they called for an extension of the ceasefire.
“We don’t have time to waste,” he said in a statement.
The fate of the young boy and his mother was unknown.
The lack of information about Shiri Bibas and her children created uncertainty and ambiguity, including relatives.
Siri Vivas’s younger sister, Dana Silverman Sitton, says she doesn’t believe her younger sister and children are still alive. She told Israeli news site Ynet that she decided to tell Aunt Siri and her cousin had passed away in December 2023 after claiming Hamas was killed in an Israeli airstrike.
“I created a defense mechanism for myself. I can no longer live with uncertainty, so I live with the knowledge that Siri and my children are dead,” she said. He told Ynet in September.
Silverman Sitton’s parents, Yossi and Margit Silverman, were also killed at Kibbutz Neil Oz on October 7, 2023.
Yaden Vivas’s younger sister, Ohri Vivas Levi, took the opposite approach. She claimed that Siri and the children were still alive, travelling abroad on missions and doing many interviews to make sure their stories were constantly mentioned.
The family story captured Israel’s attention and much of the world. It encapsulated many of the worst aspects of Hamas’ attack, and Ruth Pat Holensik, a professor at the Department of Social Work at Hebrew University, specializes in trauma.
“The graphic scene of a mother trying to protect her two babies was burned into the heart of the country,” she said.
“It all came together to create an example of the kind of encapsulated pain that became the most dramatic symbol of October 7th.”
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