Ariel and Kfir Bibas, R.I.P.

When Ariel Bibas met his baby brother, Kfir, for the first time, he hugged the little boy’s legs. There’s a video of the first time they met after their mother, Shiri, gave birth. Ariel lovingly touches baby Kfir’s feet. Shiri hugs Ariel. He is giddy. Excited. Nervous. He treats his new sibling the way a child who knows love should.

We will never know what Ariel and Kfir’s last moment together was like because today, on February 20, their bodies were returned to Israel, and their dead lips will tell no stories. Kfir would not be able to anyway. He was eight and a half months old when he was taken. He would not have learned to speak in captivity.

About the Author

Haley Strack

Haley Strack is a former staff writer at National Review.

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When Ariel Bibas met his baby brother, Kfir, for the first time, he hugged the little boy’s legs. There’s a video of the first time they met after their mother, Shiri, gave birth. Ariel lovingly touches baby Kfir’s feet. Shiri hugs Ariel. He is giddy. Excited. Nervous. He treats his new sibling the way a child who knows love should.

We will never know what Ariel and Kfir’s last moment together was like because today, on February 20, their bodies were returned to Israel, and their dead lips will tell no stories. Kfir would not be able to anyway. He was eight and a half months old when he was taken. He would not have learned to speak in captivity.