‘Shiri, my love, I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you all’

The husband and father of the murdered Bibas family, Yarden Bibas, has made a heartbreaking tribute to his wife and children, abducted by Hamas and later murdered in captivity in Gaza.

Yarden Bibas, himself a hostage in Gaza until his release on 1 February, spoke at the funerals of his wife, Shiri, and sons Ariel and Kfir, who were buried together in a single casket.

The children’s red-hair became a powerful hostage symbol in the last 16 months and Yarden acknowledged that by wearing an orange kippah and speaking at a dais at the cemetery, covered in orange sunflowers.

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He began by addressing Shiri as “Mi amor” — “my love” — saying he remembered the first time he used the phrase at the beginning of their relationship, and she had told him not to use the words unless he meant them.

Speaking with his sister Ofri at his side, Yarden said: “Shiri, I’ll confess to you now that I already loved you back then when I said ‘mi amor’.

“Shiri, I love you and will always love you. Shiri, you are everything to me. You are the best wife and mother there could be. Shiri, you are my best friend.

“Mishmish, [his nickname for her] who will help me make decisions now? How am I supposed to make decisions without you?”

In the family’s safe room at the kibbutz, he said, the last decision they made together was whether to fight or surrender. Shiri had said to fight. Yarden, holding back the tears, said: “You said fight, so I fought. Shiri, I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you all. If only I had known what would happen, I wouldn’t have fired.”

And he implored his late wife: “Shiri, please watch over me… Protect me from bad decisions. Shield me from harmful things and protect me from myself. Guard me so I don’t sink into darkness. Mishmish, I love you.”

Yarden then addressed his two children, Ariel and Kfir, telling his first-born that he hoped he was “enjoying paradise. I’m sure you’re making all the angels laugh with your silly jokes and impressions. I hope there are plenty of butterflies for you to watch, just like you did during our picnics”.

He told both children that he loved them “most in the world, always in the world”.

Speaking earlier, Avinoam Blumenkrantz, of nearby Kibbutz Tse’elim, where Yarden Bibas was born, said: “Through the tears it is difficult to see words that will soften the blow.

“Our torn hearts are with you. We will do all we can to wrap you with love,” he says. “You are a family of lions… you fought and did not let up to the last second.”

He added: “The terrible massacre crossed generations. It erased in one stroke three generations of the family.” Shiri’s parents were murdered during the attack on Nir Oz.

Quoting a song by Arik Einstein, Blumenkrantz said: “Fly, little birds, cut across the sky. Fly wherever you please. No vulture will frighten you. Mother is keeping you safe. Mother is with you. And all of us will take care of your dad, Yarden.”