Kfir Bibas turns one – the saddest birthday in the world

More than two hundred people gathered in Borehamwood on Friday to celebrate the first birthday of Kfir Bibas, the baby who was abducted to Gaza along with four-year-old brother Ariel and parents Yarden and Shiri Bibas.

The purpose of the ‘party’ complete with cake, balloons and candles was to call for the immediate release of Kfir and the other 135 hostages in Hamas captivity.

The vigil, the 13th consecutive gathering in the prominent Jewish community, comes as the global Jewish community marks “the saddest birthday in the world,” as described by Jimmy Miller, first cousin to Kfir’s mother, Shiri Bibas.

The only celebrations taking place will be without the birthday boy who, along with his brother and their parents have been held hostage since they were all abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz on 7 October.

The IDF has said that the claims made by Hamas regarding the Bibas family have not been verified, and described them as “psychological terror.”

Grace Sherman, who came to the UK from Israel with her husband and two of her five children following the atrocities, addressed the vigil. She said:

“Being in Israel when 7th October struck, there was one video that haunted me from the first moment it started going round, a mother with a look of terror as if she knew the hell that awaits her, holding two red haired babies being taken by beasts.

“At first I had to tell myself that it must be a fake, an attempt of self-preservation on my behalf, but very quickly we all discovered that the red-haired Bibas family indeed were taken brutally to the worst place on earth. They have been there now for 104 days.

“Kfir Bibas has now turned a year old in captivity, having spent a third of his life in captivity, in the darkness. Kfir has no memory of any other life and our lives have stopped, everyday with shaking hands I open the news in Israel to see if a miracle has happened and Israel has gotten back what has become the face and symbol of the atrocities of 7th October.

“I imagine the same questions haunt us all; do Kfir and Ariel have a blanket, does Kfir have baby formula? These questions have become my everyday narrative as I look down at my baby girl sleeping safely in my arms.

“I do not have the luxury of telling myself that something can’t be real because it’s too horrific to fathom. We must all stand tall and strong and loud and proud and demand, give us back our hostages! Give us the Bibas family. Never again is now!”

The vigil ended with an emotional chorus of Happy Birthday followed by the Israeli and British national anthems.