Eylon Keshet, the cousin of Yarden Bibas, spoke with Campaign Against Antisemitism about his life and experience since Shiri, Ariel and baby Kfir Bibas were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz to Gaza by Hamas on October 7.
"This is not an act of resistance," Keshet told CAA in response to Hamas's justifications of the attacks.
Describing the situation as "very surreal," he detailed the emotions he continues to experience while waiting for news of his loved ones and upon the discovery that hostage posters with Ariel's and Kfir's photos were vandalized.
“You learn to very artificially control your feelings and just get through the day because if you keep thinking about it, you can’t operate. It’s too much for the mind to handle. It’s so nightmarish," he said.
When asked how he is coping with the situation, he revealed that he feels like he is “on the verge of crying any minute…it feels like torture.”
Shortly after Hamas's attacks, posters displaying the hostages were placed around the world. In less than a week after October 7, these posters were ripped down, vandalized with slurs and defaced - including photos of young Ariel and Kfir.
Speaking onthese incidents, Keshet asked, "How could you rip posters of Kfir and Ariel? And try to politicize it? What kind of monster do you have to be? What kind of ignorant [person] do you have to be to try to merge these issues together?”
“Hamas is a terrorist organization that has done horrific stuff… there is no merit in it. There is only sadism and destruction in mind,” he added.
Describing scenes of the biggest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, Keshet added, "They decapitated heads, they killed elderly people. This is not an act of resistance.”
Yarden and Shiri Bibas, along with Kfir and Ariel, all remain in captivity in Gaza.
A symbol of Oct. 7
A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “The Bibas family has become a symbol of the unspeakably brutal attacks on Israeli civilians, including babies, children and the elderly on 7th October. The hostages have been in captivity in unimaginable conditions for over ten months now. That includes five-year-old Ariel Bibas and baby Kfir, who has tragically spent more of his life in captivity than in freedom.
“Eylon Keshet’s candid description of the experience of his own family being taken hostage is a sobering reminder that this tragedy is still ongoing. This is why we will continue to raise awareness and ensure that the hostages and the urgency of their release will not be forgotten.”