‘I want to hug them again’ – Niece of kidnapped mother, babies begs for their return

Mother whisked away by Hamas terrorists while clutching toddler and infant; Her family demands answers.

By World Israel News Staff

A video of an Israeli mother clutching her toddler and infant sons while being abducted by Hamas terrorists to the Gaza Strip has gone viral on social media, as the woman’s family begs for help to bring her home.

On Saturday, Hamas gunmen streamed into Kibbutz Nir Oz, where 30-year-old Shiri Silberman-Bibas lived with her husband, Yarden, and two boys, Kfir and Ariel.

The family had hid in their bomb shelter, while hearing heavy gunfire outside. Bibas, who was armed with a small handgun, stayed in contact with family members via WhatsApp during the fighting.

“I love you all,” Bibas wrote.

A final message from Bibas thirty minutes later read, “They’re coming in.”

In the clip circulating on Palestinian social media, Silberman-Bibas is whisked away by men holding machine guns, while holding her 3-year-old and 9-month-old.

Her husband is nowhere to be seen.

“I just hope that they are alive, and that they are together. And I want them home, with me, so I can hug them tightly again,” the couple’s niece, Yifat Zeiler, told the New York Times.

“We feel that those responsible don’t know what to do, because this is a situation we’ve never been in before. That’s the feeling in Israel,” she added. “It’s a catastrophe.”

Zeiler said that Silberman’s mother and father, longtime residents of the kibbutz, are also missing and believed to be held as captives in Gaza.

Jose Luis and Margit Silberman are dual Israel-Argentine citizens who moved to the Jewish State some 40 years ago.

“The first time I saw the pictures I couldn’t believe it,” said Yossi, a cousin of Silberman-Bibas, speaking to Hebrew-language media.

“I couldn’t comprehend what I saw. My fear is they have been separated, injured or killed and we won’t see them again.”