Thousands expected to pay respects to Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas along funeral procession route

The burial of Kfir, Ariel and Shiri Bibas will take place on Wednesday in a private, closed funeral, but the Israeli public has been encouraged to pay their respects along the route leading to the cemetery, Shiri's husband Yarden Bibas said on Sunday.

“The funeral ceremony itself will only be for members of the family and close friends,” said Yarden, whose family was abducted from Nir Oz to Gaza on October 7, 2023 and later murdered in captivity by Hamas terrorists. Yarden was also taken captive, and was released earlier this month as part of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire.

“Nonetheless, it is important for us to make it possible for whoever wishes to pay their respects and be a part of this moment to do so. Therefore, the route of the funeral procession will be published in order to enable anyone” to pay their respects on the day of the funeral, he said.

The bodies will be driven from Rishon Lezion to the Tekuma Region near the Gaza Strip, where Nir Oz is situated. The public was urged to show up at various stations along the route in the early morning hours of Wednesday until Sha'ar HaNegev Junction, where the procession is expected to arrive at around 9:15 a.m. Thousands are expected to show up, according to Ma'ariv.

To countless Israelis and others, the Bibas family personified the plight of the 251 hostages that Hamas abducted on October 7, and the brutality of its terrorists. Hamas claimed the mother and her children were killed by Israeli bombardments in the Gaza Strip, but forensic evidence has refuted that claim.

“The heart of the nation is shattered by the abduction and brutal murder of Shiri and her children—Ariel and Kfir, may their memory be a blessing,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday after Hamas returned Shri’s body.

Hamas was to have returned Shiri's remains on Thursday together with those of her children, but DNA testing found that the body returned was not hers. The terrorist group returned Shiri’s body on Saturday.

"The warm embrace, the love and the strength that you have sent us from all over Israel and the world strengthen us and accompany us during these moments of crisis. We sense the open hearts, the enormous embrace, your pain alongside our pain—which we don’t take for granted," added Yaden Bibas in his statement.

The Israel Business Forum, which represents most workers in the private sector in Israel from 200 of the country’s largest companies, announced that employees will be permitted to arrive at work late on Wednesday to facilitate their participation in the funeral procession.