Sawt Falasteen - 'Sorry I couldn't protect you': Israel mourns Bibas mother, sons

Orange balloons symbolising the children's red hair fluttered in the breeze from a fence not far from the cemetery of kibbutz Nir Oz, from where the Bibas family were seized by Palestinian militants on October 7, 2023.

Signs reading "sorry" and "the broken heart with the Bibas family" hung from a nearby fence.

"Shiri, I'm sorry I couldn't protect you all," Yarden Bibas said in his eulogy at the funeral of his wife and two sons -- Ariel and Kfir -- who were aged four and nine months old at the time of their abduction.

Hamas handed over the remains of Shiri and the two children last week as part of a ceasefire deal with Israel, while Yarden Bibas was freed earlier this month.

"Shiri, I love you and will always love you. Shiri, you are everything to me," said Yarden, his voice choking with emotion as he read his eulogy, which was televised live from the cemetery.

The funeral was restricted to close family and was not open to the media.

"Ariel, I hope you're not angry with me for failing to protect you properly and for not being there for you," he said.

"I hope you know I thought about you every day, every minute. I hope you're enjoying paradise."

Remembering Kfir, he said: "You brought more light and happiness to our little home. You came with your sweet, captivating laugh and smile, and I was instantly hooked! It was impossible not to nibble on you all the time."

Shiri and her two sons were buried together in a single coffin, in a nod to the haunting images of their capture when she was seen tightly clutching her two children as militants took them to Gaza.

The grave in the small cemetery was piled high with orange, yellow and white flowers, an AFP correspondent reported from the cemetery.

Left-leaning newspaper Haaretz printed its front page entirely in orange.

"An entire nation in tears bids farewell to Shiri, Ariel and Kfir. May they rest in peace," it read.

- 'Take responsibility' -

During the funeral, Shiri Bibas's sister-in-law, Ofri, called on all Israeli officials to take responsibility for the deaths, saying her loved ones could have been saved.

"There is no meaning to forgiveness before the failures are investigated, and all officials take responsibility... They could have saved you but preferred revenge," she said.

Ahead of the funeral, a large crowd, many wearing orange and carrying Israeli flags, gathered in the Tel Aviv plaza dubbed Hostages Square to watch a live broadcast of the funeral.

"Obviously all of our hearts are broken," said Sherri Ettedgui who moved from Canada to Israel two months ago.

"There's actually no words that can express how we feel for this family, and so we wanted to come here today just to be with other people who are feeling the same and show our support."

Earlier in the day, thousands of mourners carrying flags and orange balloons joined the funeral procession heading to Zohar, near kibbutz Nir Oz.

Israel's national anthem was sung in hushed tones as the funeral convoy passed through the crowd in the central city of Rishon LeZion, where the remains of the three hostages had been prepared for burial.

"The Bibas family, I think, is like the symbol of everything that happened to us since October 7," said retired teacher Ayala Schlesinger Avidov, 72, visibly emotional as she spoke to AFP. "The two babies and the mother that did nothing to the world and were murdered in cold blood."

Dozens of people lit candles by the roadside.

- 'In the heart' -

"The Bibas family has got into all of us, in the heart," said Aviv Nahman, 22, who was visibly emotional as she spoke to AFP. "I have a sister and nephews the exact same ages, so I felt an obligation to be here today."

The remains of the three Bibas family members were among the first to be returned under the truce deal which brought an end to more than 15 months of fighting in Gaza.

The handover sparked anger in Israel when Hamas initially delivered a body that turned out not to be Shiri's. The militant group blamed a "mix-up" and handed over the correct remains the following day.

H.Darwish--SF-PST