Three years after the October 7 Hamas attacks that killed roughly 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage, the profound grief experienced by the families of the youngest victims remains raw and unabated. Ofri Bibas Levy stated that every anniversary sharply renews her family’s devastation. Her brother Yarden, his wife Shiri, and their young sons Ariel, 4, and Kfir, 9 months, were seized by militants from Kibbutz Nir Oz. While Yarden was freed in February 2025, Shiri and the children perished in captivity. Bibas Levy expressed that she relives the tragedy constantly, noting that the assault permanently shattered the national sense of security and trust. Reflecting on intelligence reports regarding ignored warnings prior to the attack, she described the revelation as a painful twist in her heart. Across the border in Gaza, the grandmother of five-year-old Hind Rajab shares a similarly unbroken sorrow. Hind was killed in January 2024 after being trapped in a vehicle that came under Israeli fire in Gaza City, her desperate phone calls to paramedics having captured global attention. Holding up her granddaughter’s kindergarten graduation gown and notebook, her grandmother emphasized that the memory of the innocent child, who dreamed of becoming a doctor, will never fade despite her lack of faith in a military criminal investigation opened into the incident.
Source: cbsnews.com
