One day after his wife Shiri's body was positively identified by the Abu Kabir forensic institute, Yarden Bibas - released earlier this month from Hamas captivity - wrote his first social media post, thanking those who supported his family since the October 7 massacre.
In a Facebook group, Yarden wrote: "This group is more than just another regular Facebook group, it is a group of good people who are willing to help with anything and in any way! Thank you to every single one of you who worried, prayed, and helped my family and I. I appreciate it very much, and it is not something to be taken for granted."
Shiri Bibas' body was returned to Israel on Friday night, and positively identified as her remains just hours later. Forensics experts found no evidence that she had been killed in an airstrike; she was likely murdered in the early weeks of the war, around the same time as her children were murdered.
On Friday morning, the IDF confirmed that "based on the intelligence available to us and forensic findings from the identification process, Ariel and Kfir Bibas were brutally murdered by terrorists in captivity in November 2023."
IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari later stated: "Baby Kfir and his brother Ariel were brutally murdered no later than November 2023. Contrary to Hamas's lies, they were not killed in an airstrike, but killed in cold blood with the terrorist's bare hands."
"Yarden Bibas looked me in the eye yesterday and asked that the whole world know and be shocked at the manner in which his children were murdered. Yarden, an entire nation feels your pain and is waiting for Shiri to return. We are committed to you and to all the families of the abductees to bring them all back as soon as possible."