October 7 · Personal story
Ariel Bibas
Abducted
October 7, 2023
Abduction location
The Bibas family home in Kibbutz Nir Oz
Current outcome
Returned for burial · February 20, 2025
Ariel was murdered in captivity in November 2023. His remains returned to Israel on February 20, 2025; he was buried in Tzohar with Shiri and Kfir on February 26.
01
A boy who loved to climb
Ariel was born in August 2019 and grew up in Kibbutz Nir Oz. He was the first child of Shiri and Yarden and Kfir’s older brother. The kibbutz community remembered him as cheerful and mischievous, with red hair and a quick smile. He loved superheroes, and was drawn to gardening, tractors and cars. Climbing and jumping were favorite pursuits. His parents liked taking the boys along the kibbutz paths, on Saturday picnics and to the lawn and pool near their home.
02
Taken with his mother and brother
On October 7, 2023, four-year-old Ariel was at home in Nir Oz with Shiri and his baby brother Kfir. Their father, Yarden, was abducted separately. A later group of attackers took Shiri and the boys. Ariel was four; Kfir was nine months old. Images of Shiri holding her children during the abduction became public. The family’s relatives and their kibbutz neighbors spent the following months waiting for reliable news.
03
His family’s fate remained unknown
Ariel was held in Gaza with Shiri and Kfir. In November 2023, the National Insurance memorial record lists his date of death as November 28 and says he was killed in Gaza. The Nir Oz community later said the family learned that Shiri and both boys had been murdered about a month after their abduction. Their father Yarden was released alive on February 1, 2025, after 484 days in captivity; Shiri and the boys were returned for burial later that month.
04
Brought home for burial
Ariel’s remains were returned to Israel on February 20, 2025. He was buried six days later in Tzohar with Shiri and Kfir. Yarden had been freed alive on February 1 after 484 days in captivity. The family’s return was therefore divided: the father came home alive, while his wife and sons came home for burial.
05
Remembered through his favorite things
Ariel’s community remembers the interests that filled his childhood: superheroes, gardening, tractors, cars, climbing and jumping. In an account published on February 25, 2025, Yamit Avital described how her five-year-old son Yoav struggled with the loss of his friend. The boys had grown up together. Yoav had written Ariel a letter about drawing Batman and returning to kindergarten; he wanted their teacher to give it to Ariel when he came home. Ariel was buried with his mother and brother the following day. Yarden had returned alive earlier that month, without his wife and sons.