Hundreds of mourners gathered at a cemetery in southern Israel on Wednesday to bid a final farewell to Shiri Bibas and her two sons, who were killed in Gaza captivity and had become symbols in Israel of the hostages' ordeal.

Orange balloons symbolising the children's red hair fluttered in the breeze from a fence near the cemetery, which is close to kibbutz Nir Oz, from where the Bibas family were seized by Palestinian militants on October 7, 2023.

Signs reading "sorry" and "the broken heart with the Bibas family" hung from a nearby fence.

"Shiri, I'm sorry I couldn't protect you all," Yarden Bibas said in his eulogy at the funeral of his wife and two sons -- Ariel and Kfir -- who were aged four and nine months old at the time of their abduction.

Hamas handed over the remains of Shiri and the two children last week as part of a ceasefire deal with Israel, while Yarden Bibas was freed earlier this month.

"Shiri, I love you and will always love you. Shiri, you are everything to me," said Yarden, his voicechoking with emotion as he read his eulogy, which was televised live from the cemetery.

The........

© Al Monitor