The ACDP joins the international community, the global Jewish community and the State of Israel in mourning the deaths of hostages Oded Lifshitz, Shiri Bibas, and her nine-month-old baby, Kfir Bibas, and four-year old brother, Ariel, whose bodies were returned yesterday after they were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz by Hamas during the 7 October 2023 massacre and subsequently died or were murdered in Gaza.
As United Kingdom Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said, “It is pure evil to take a mother and her young children and an elderly man hostage. It takes another layer of evil to be responsible for their deaths. And yet a further layer of evil to trade their bodies to release hundreds of prisoners, including terrorists serving life sentences for murder.”
The ACDP agrees. We were one of the first organisations that called for the immediate release of the hostages when the tragic events of 7 October were still unfolding. The international community has failed the Bibas family in not securing the release of these children when four hostages were released back in October 2023.
We also condemn in the strongest terms the parading of the bodies of the Israeli hostages by Hamas in a cruel ceremony. This act has made the depravity of Hamas clear for all the world to see. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk labelled this ceremony as “abhorrent” and flying in the face of international law: “Under international law, any handover of the remains of deceased must comply with the prohibition of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, ensuring respect for the dignity of the deceased and their families.”
Yet President Ramaphosa and the South African government, while quick to condemn Israel and lodge a case against Israel in the International Court of Justice, is silent regarding this appalling act. This is disgraceful and shows a complete lack of compassion for the hostages’ families, the South African Jewish community and the State of Israel.
We repeat our calls for the immediate release of all the remaining hostages and the return of the bodies of those who have been murdered or died in Gaza.
We also trust and pray that the cease-fire will hold and for an end to the Israel/Hamas war, saddened by the loss of so many lives in both Israel and Gaza. Any such lasting peace must guarantee the right of Israel to defend itself and its citizens and to ensure that the attack and massacre that occurred on 7 October never happens again. “Never again!” as is said every year when the Holocaust is remembered!
Our thoughts and prayers are with Yarden Bibas (who was also only recently released by Hamas), the Jewish community and the State of Israel. May their memory be a blessing and their families, the Jewish community and the State of Israel be comforted and strengthened at this time.
