In recent days, the IDF attempted to kill a terrorist who took part in the kidnapping of Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas from Kibbutz Nir Oz during the October 7 massacre, but since the strike relied on downsized munitions, the terrorist was wounded, not killed, in the strike.
During the approval process for the targeted killing in the Gaza Strip, it emerged that the terrorist was staying near a tent housing a Gazan family and their children. For that reason, the IDF opted for a smaller, more precisely focused munition. That munition was enough to wound him, but not to kill him. Had the heavier munition been fired instead, the family in the neighboring tent would have been hit as well.
The episode illustrates the distorted way such processes were portrayed in "NAZA", a film that won an award at the Venice Film Festival. IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir addressed the film and the attempt to blacken the reputation of IDF soldiers and their commanders, stressing that the fight against this effort is a national and international mission.
The senior operatives killed within the terror group
The Mujahideen Brigades, the group behind the kidnapping of the three Bibas family members, split off from Fatah in the early 2000s. Its operatives previously belonged to a faction within the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades. Like other groups, the Mujahideen Brigades were part of the joint operations room run by Hamas.
In April 2025, the IDF killed Mohammed Hassan Mohammed Awad, a member of the group's military council and commander of its intelligence apparatus, who was identified as the man who commanded the operation to kidnap Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir. According to the findings, he was also directly involved in their brutal murder in captivity.
In June 2025, the IDF killed Asaad Abu Sharia, who led the massacre in Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7. Abu Sharia was killed in a strike on his home in Gaza City. His brother, Ahmed Abu Sharia, a senior figure in the same terror group responsible for the Gaza City sector, was also killed. During that period, the IDF also killed Mahmoud Hamad Kahil, a terrorist from the group who took an active part in the raid on Nir Oz and in holding the family captive.
A family that became a symbol
On October 7, the Bibas family was at home in Kibbutz Nir Oz. Yarden was abducted from there to Gaza while wounded, after he had gone out to defend his loved ones with his personal handgun. Shortly afterward, terrorists stormed the house, killed the family dog, Tonto, and kidnapped Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir. The video of Shiri trying to shield her two children with her arms, a look of terror on her face as brutal terrorists surrounded her, became a symbol of the kidnapping, one that has haunted mothers everywhere ever since.
That same day, Hamas terrorists also murdered Shiri's parents, Margit and Yossi Silberman. After 484 days of an extensive public campaign for their release, Yarden was freed as part of the second hostage deal on Feb. 1, 2025. Nineteen days later came the official announcement that Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir had been brutally murdered in captivity.
The mother and her two sons, who had captured the heart of the entire nation of Israel, were laid to rest on Feb. 26, 2025, accompanied by thousands of Israelis who stood and waved flags along the funeral procession route to the cemetery in Tzohar.
A few weeks ago, Ariel was supposed to celebrate his seventh birthday. His father, Yarden, marked the occasion a post on his Instagram page, in which he shared his endless longing, writing, "I hope you know that I would give up everything for one more small moment with you. I would give up my life if it would bring you back."
