U.S. officials expressed horror and dismay at the news, which Israel confirmed on Wednesday, that Hamas had murdered Shiri Bibas, 33, and her young sons Ariel, 5, and Kfir, 2, and that the terror group was poised to return their bodies and that of Oded Lifshitz, 84.
“The cold-blooded murder of an infant is as barbaric a crime against humanity as one can commit,” wrote Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.). “Hamas has murdered the Bibas family, including Kfir, who was only 9 months old at the time of his abduction.”
“A terrorist organization that murders babies in cold blood cannot be allowed to stand,” he added. “Hamas must be removed from power and eradicated from the face of the earth.”
“The hearts of the world break to learn of the horrific fate of Shiri Bibas, Ariel Bibas, Kfir Bibas and Oded Lifshitz,” wrote Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), U.S. President Donald Trump’s pick to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
“The world must never forget that Hamas terrorists savagely murdered over 1,200 innocent civilians including women, children, babies and the elderly and took hundreds hostage committing unspeakable atrocities against humanity on Oct. 7,” she wrote. “As we learn more about the tragic fates and devastating loss of life of these innocent victims, we are reminded that this must not be Israel’s fight alone but a fight between good and evil, civilization and barbarity.”
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) recently saw the kibbutz from which Hamas kidnapped the Bibas family.
“This week I visited the home and kibbutz of Shiri Bibas and her two precious baby boys, Ariel and Kfir,” the congresswoman wrote. “I could feel the heavy weight of their absence, a hole in the hearts of all who knew them. Israel has just confirmed their brutal deaths at the hands of Hamas.”
“Evil doesn’t touch it,” she stated. “This is unthinkable savagery and hatred.”
“Horrific and barbaric,” wrote Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas). “If Hamas ever invaded the United States and kidnapped and killed American toddlers, we would never stop hunting them down, and yet the world acts baffled that Israel went to war over this.”
French President Emanuel Macron also issued a statement honoring the slain hostages and condemning Hamas.
“Shiri. Kfir. Ariel. Faces of innocence and love,” he wrote in French. “Faces of an eternal humanity that the barbarity of Hamas will never abolish. France, mobilized for the release of all hostages, stands alongside Yarden and the Bibas family. In universal brotherhood.”