Thousands call for end of Gaza war in Tel Aviv, mark Kfir Bibas' birthday

More than 2,000 demonstrators gathered in Tel Aviv Thursday night to call for involvement in political discourse, leading to a hopeful end to Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza and the return of the hostages.

Demonstrators blocked the Ayalon highway later on Thursday, setting alight an effigy reading "136" for the remaining hostages in Gaza.

Organized by Israeli NGOs, Women Wage Peace, and the Standing Together Movement, around 20 organizations joined together in a symbolic march.

Convening at 7:00 p.m. near Dizengoff Center, the groups marched to the Cinematek, where demonstrators were met with speeches by October 7 Massacre survivors, the bereaved, former Knesset members, and peace activists, among others.

Neta Peleg, who survived Hamas’ rampage of Kibbutz Be’eri, was present alongside Netta Himan, a peace activist whose mother was held captive and released from Gaza. Others present included Tabat Abu Ras, CEO of Avraham Initiatives, Brit Yacovi, a co-founder of the religious left, and former Knesset members Sondus Saleh and Mosi Raz.

Avital Brown of Women Wage Peace told The Jerusalem Post that guns and security measures were not the only way to solve a conflict like Operation Swords of Iron. “What we need is a political agreement that will take out all of the extremists,” Brown said. “After October 7, we’ve been saying that only political agreement will create security. We are standing here together today, Jews and Arabs, Palestinians, to say that there are other ways to think about security. Security is not just guns and war.”

Brown told the Post that the movement came to existence after Israel’s 2014 war in Gaza. “It is easy for us to say ‘they are all Hamas, they all want to kill us.’ But this is the way they were looking at us, too,” she stated. “The truth of the matter is that there are enough Palestinian people who want to live a normal life just like us. We, the moderates, cannot let the extremist minorities take the lead.”

Also present at the protest was Dr. Yael Adami, a member of Women Wage Peace. ”Over 100 days to the war in Gaza. Not a day goes by without casualties, death, wounded, disabled, war victims, orphans, widows, refugees, and horrors, which happen to all of us. And still, 136 abductees are in Gaza.”

“But power and more power do not bring us the desired peace and security. We will not defeat terrorism by force. The real enemy of Hamas is a political move. Women Making Peace calls for a new leadership in Israel, with the participation of women, one that initiates a political move and a declaration whose goal is to resolve the conflict, as opposed to continuing its failed management, which has brought us disaster,” she added.

Rola Daoud, director of the Standing Together movement, told The Jerusalem Post that, “There is one simple fact - both groups of people living here, the Jewish people and the Palestinian people, neither group is going anywhere. We need to learn how to live a life that gives us both security. One that gives us both liberty and freedom.”

In her address to the demonstrators, Daoud stated: ”I am Palestinian and a citizen of Israel, and I feel all the pains of this country. I understand all the obituaries - those that are said in Hebrew and those that are said in Arabic.

“And I also know all the dreams. Here and there, the great majority wants to know that the other side also feels the same way. We are here to say as clearly as possible: only the end of the war will free the abductees. Only a ceasefire agreement will save lives, the innocents in Gaza. Only Israeli-Palestinian peace will bring us security. And only walking the other way - a way of life instead of a way of destruction and death - will ensure that we even have a future in this country."

Thousands of Israelis, including the families of Gaza hostages, called for the immediate reopening of negotiation channels to bring the remaining 132 hostages home.

The family of Kfir Bibas marked “the saddest birthday in the world” on Thursday as the youngest hostage being held by Hamas in Gaza turned one year old.

The baby boy was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, when he was nine months old, alongside his parents Yarden and Shiri, and his four-year-old brother Ariel. Over the more than three months of the Gaza war, Bibas’s face has become known around the world. Approximately a quarter of his life has been held captive by a terrorist organization.

Large crowd of people filled Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, many holding orange balloons, in acknowledgment of  Kfir’s red hair. A large screen displaying the number of days the hostages have been held in Gaza stood nearby - 103.

Children who have returned from Hamas captivity prepared greeting cards to mark the birthday. Four-year-old Oriya Brodutch, who was released on Nov. 26 along with mother Hagar, 40, and siblings Ofri, 10, Yuval, 9, wrote in the birthday card, “Happy birthday, may you return home soon.”

Thirteen-year-old Gali Tarshansky, who was released on Nov. 29, wrote, “Cute and sweet Kafir, happy birthday. We are waiting for you to return to us safely and quickly and we will celebrate with a cake and gifts, like a one-year-old child should celebrate.”

Nine-year-old Emily Hand, who was released on Nov. 26, wrote, “I hope you get out of there as soon as possible. I understand the feeling because I was there too. Sending you hugs and love.”

Today is Kfir Bibas's 1st birthday.He was abducted aged nine months. He has now been a hostage of Hamas for one-quarter of his sorry life. pic.twitter.com/fiRYBacHlL

— Eylon Levy (@EylonALevy) January 18, 2024

At the ceremony, Shiri Bibas’ cousin, Yifat Zeiler, said: “No abductee should celebrate a birthday in captivity. We thank the children and their families for such a moving gesture, and ask the decision-makers to read these wishes to understand that behind every hostage there is a whole world.”

It is not clear whether Kfir and his family are still alive. Hamas claimed tthat Kfir, his brother and his mother were killed in an Israeli airstrike.

Released hostage Nili Margalit, who spent nearly 50 days in Hamas captivity, revealed that she was with Yarden Bibas when Hamas terrorists told him his wife and two young children had been killed and ordered him to film a video in which he blamed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for refusing to bring their bodies back to Israel.

The IDF has said that the claims made by Hamas regarding the Bibas family have not been verified, and described them as “psychological terror.”

On Tuesday, a smaller group of friends and relatives of the Bibas family held an event at Nir Oz on Tuesday, commemorating Kfir’s birthday with a large balloon display and a cake featuring the famous photo of Kfir with the pink elephant.

President Isaac Herzog stood next the the same photo when he spoke at the annual meeting of the world elites at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday.

Dear Kfir ,You might not see this message, but just know that each and every one of us in Israel and so many of us around the world are thinking of you today.We are doing everything we can to bring you, Ariel, your parents and all of the hostages home.#KfirOneYear pic.twitter.com/1mjmRAEETy

— Israel ישראל (@Israel) January 18, 2024

“This is Kfir Bibas. Kfir today, is celebrating one year since his birth. Exactly a year ago, he was born to his parents, Shiri, his mother, and his father, Yarden, and his brother Ariel,” Herzog said.

“His whereabouts are unknown. We know he was kidnapped by Hamas. We know that these barbaric terrorists have taken him, his mother his brother, and his father. We know that they are going through hell, and we don’t know their whereabouts.

“The enemy is basically advocating jihadism, celebrating and glorifying terror, celebrating and glorifying the abduction of Kfir Bibas,” Herzog stated. “From here, this incredible world stage, I call upon the entire universe to work endlessly to free Kfir, and all the hostages that are there.”

Earlier this week, Kfir’s birthday was celebrated at Kibbutz Nir Oz’s children’s home, with the community members wishing for his return together with his mother, Shiri, his father, Yarden, and his brother Ariel. Dozens of orange balloons were released in honor of the Bibas family.

Last week, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, marked Kfir’s birthday on the stage of the UN General Assembly, presented a cake in his honor and said: “I ask that Kfir’s birthday cake remain on the podium as a painful memory of the baby who spent a quarter of his life in captivity.”

“Kfir Bibas is not the enemy of the Hamas. The Hamas don’t have any rules,” Jimmy Miller, cousin of the Bibas family, told CNN on Wednesday.

“You know, any rules even from the Quran because in the Quran, you cannot do damage to kids … so Hamas breaks all the rules of the Islam,” he added.