Bibas family laid to rest as thousands line the streets of Israel

Thousands of people lined the streets of Israel on Wednesday to pay their respects to Shiri Bibas and her two young sons as their funeral procession made its way to a cemetery in the south of the country.

Bibas was 32 and her sons, Ariel and Kfir, were 4 years old and just shy of 9 months old when they were taken hostage by Hamas during the Oct. 7 2023, terrorist attacks. Clutching her children as fighters barked orders, she looked terrified in a video taken near their home in kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel.

The fate of the three hostages had become an emotional open sore for Israelis during the period between their kidnapping and the return of their bodies late last week and early this week.

While Hamas said early in the war that the three had been killed, the Israeli government had been unable to confirm their deaths.

The boys’ remains were returned Saturday, following a ceremony which saw Hamas militants parade their coffins on stage in scenes that have been widely condemned by human rights groups and the international community.

The remains of Oded Lifshitz, 84, who was also abducted from kibbutz Nir Oz, were also returned that day. His remains were laid to rest Tuesday.

Forensic examinations later showed that a casket bearing the image of Shiri Bibas did not contain her body, although Hamas returned her remains Monday.

Her husband and the children’s father, Yarden Bibas, 35, was also abducted Oct. 7 2023, and returned alive Feb. 1, apparently unaware that his family had died.

As black vans carried the caskets and grieving relatives through the central city of Rishon LeZion, huge crowds of Israelis stood on side streets and main roads and wept.

Many held blue-and-white Israeli flags punctuated by the orange balloons and clothing that mourners and activists have adopted in honor of the Bibas boys’ red hair.

One image showed Shiri Bibas’ sister, Dana Silberman-Sitton, reaching out from one of the black vans to hold the hand of a well-wisher in another vehicle.

Smaller groups of mourners did the same on the rural highways that the procession used to reach the Tsoher cemetery in the south of the country, where they were laid to rest.

While the family requested that only those invited attend the funeral, it asked that the ceremony be screened in Tel Aviv’s “Hostage Square,” given the level of heartache the family’s fate has generated across the country.

Since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, the square has become a focal point for protesters to vent their frustrations with the Israeli government over the return of the 251 hostages captured Oct. 7, 2023, when about 1,200 people were also killed per Israeli tallies.

Israel’s ensuing military offensive in Gaza has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to the enclave’s Hamas-run Health Ministry, and forcibly displaced most of its 2.3 million population.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com