Opinion
How could Hamas parade the coffins of the Bibas brothers without universal outrage?
The media shares responsibility for society’s moral failure to condemn Hamas
February 24, 2025 16:44
2 min read
The media shares responsibility for society’s moral failure to condemn Hamas
February 24, 2025 16:44I recently wrote of the trepidation and anxiety that I would feel ahead of every hostage release. Last Thursday, that fear was realised in the most horrifying and heartbreaking way, as the bodies of Ariel and Kfir Bibas, two innocent young children, and Oded Lifshitz were released by Hamas and returned to their families.
In an act of pure cruelty, Hamas initially claimed that the body of Shiri Bibas had been returned along with her sons. However, forensic tests revealed that this was neither her body nor that of any known hostage. This was a shocking violation of the ceasefire agreement, but it briefly gave us hope that she might still be alive. On Friday, those hopes were shattered when Shiri's body was finally returned to be buried alongside her two sons. This psychological warfare is an intentional tactic by Hamas.
The release of these murdered hostages should have been carried out peacefully. Instead, we saw the same degrading public displays by Hamas that have violated the dignity and fundamental rights of the hostages in other recent releases – only this time worse. Graphic propaganda posters decorated the stage, where coffins were proudly displayed with October 7 listed as the “date of arrest”, while a crowd of onlookers, including families with young children, gathered to celebrate.
The IDF has confirmed that Kfir and Ariel were brutally murdered in captivity in November 2023. Just nine months old and four years old when they were taken from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, these two boys had their entire lives ahead of them. Kfir never even celebrated a birthday. Their futures were stolen by hate.
Oded Lifshitz dedicated his life to campaigning for peace. So much so that he volunteered for a decade with “Road to Recovery” to personally transport children from Gaza to Israel for the best medical care. Oded’s daughter, Sharone Lifshitz, is a British citizen. Her tireless campaigning on behalf of her father and all other hostages has been truly inspiring, and the British government must do all it can to support her.
Throughout this week, my thoughts have been with the Bibas family, the Lifshitz family, and all those families desperately waiting for news of their loved ones. The events of last Thursday took me back to the feelings we all experienced on October 7 , 2023, prompting a reflection on how many of us have become numb to the events of that horrifying day. So many innocent lives were taken; so many futures stolen.
The unconscionable acts of violence and inhumanity displayed by Hamas must be condemned globally. That innocent children could be kidnapped and killed, and their coffins paraded in the centre of Khan Yunis without universal outrage, reflects a moral repudiation within our society.
It is clear that the media shares part of the responsibility for this, including our national broadcaster, the BBC. I was shocked to see that a BBC2 documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone was fronted by a 14-year-old boy, Abdullah, who is the son of a high-ranking Hamas official.
Although the BBC's decision to drop this documentary is welcome, there needs to be a reckoning as to how this came to happen. Continued examples of bias against Israel by the BBC and other media outlets undermine the trust of the Jewish community. As the bodies of the Bibas children lay cold in Gaza’s terror tunnels, the BBC was broadcasting Hamas propaganda. The true nature of what Israel is fighting against can only be seen when the media commits to reporting fairly and accurately. The highest editorial standards must be upheld by the media when reporting on Israel.
Too many have remained silent, while others have whitewashed the perpetrators by creating false equivalencies between them and their victims. One particularly egregious example was Amnesty International's post on X, which conflated the kidnapping, torture and murder of babies with the detention of alleged terrorists. The return of a mother, her two young children, and an 84-year-old man – all in coffins – must be a wake-up call for the media and for the world. Each day that the remaining hostages continue to endure these cruel conditions is one too many. We cannot rest until every single hostage is returned home.
