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Condemned to live in dark dank tunnels for much of his nearly 500 days in captivity, frequently beaten by his guards, held for long periods in cages, at times given a daily ration of only one piece of pita, the Israeli hostage Yarden Bibas was also subject to the most diabolical psychological torture, with his captors alternately suggesting that his wife and two children had been killed — and by the IDF — or that they perhaps were still alive. More on what he endured can be found here: “Yarden Bibas was ‘beaten and held in cages’ by Hamas terrorists,” Jewish Chronicle, February 2, 2025:
Released hostage Yarden Bibas was tormented by his Hamas captors about the fate of his wife and children during 484 days in captivity, according to reports after his release yesterday.
On the 14th day of the ceasefire-hostage deal, Yarden, 35, was released alongside Ofer Calderon, 54, in a staged handover in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis.
A couple of hours later, American Israeli hostage Keith Siegel, 65, was later handed over to the Red Cross at Gaza City Airport.
Yarden, his wife Shiri 32, and their two young sons, Kfir and Ariel, who, at the time, were 10 months and four years old, were taken from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz during the Hamas onslaught on October 7.
Yarden was wounded and taken captive, and his wife and children were abducted separately. A video of Shiri, stricken with terror, clinging onto in terror while being abducted became one of the most widely circulated pieces of footage to emerge from the Hamas attack on southern Israel, when 1,200 people were massacred and some 250 taken hostage….
The word “massacred” does not properly convey what happened. Those 1,200 Israelis were not just massacred. They were subject to mass rapes, torture, mutilation, and then murdered. Some were bound together with other family members and burned alive. Children were decapitated. The eyes of victims were gouged out and genitalia were cut off while the victims were still alive, and then they were killed. No, saying Israelis were “massacred” will not do.
On his release, Yarden was met by his father, Elis, and sister, Ofri, at the IDF’s Re’im camp just outside Gaza, before being flown by helicopter to Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer in Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv. There, he was reunited with his mother, Pnina.
A statement released by his family, who have been campaigning relentlessly, said: “Yarden is home. A quarter of our heart has returned to us after 15 long months. There are no words to describe the relief of holding Yarden in our arms, embracing him and hearing his voice.
A “quarter of our heart has returned.” Another quarter is represented by his wife, Shiri, and another by four-year-old son, and the last by Kfir, kidnapped when he was nine months old, and who is now two years old.
Yarden Bibas fought bravely to protect his family from Hamas killers on October 7, 2023. He and those he tried to protect — his wife, his four-year-old, and his nine-month-old baby Kfir — were all taken back to Gaza as hostages by the Hamas bezonians. Now, after 484 days, Yarden Bibas is back in Israel, describing his anguish in captivity, and waiting to see if his wife and small children will be returned, alive — or dead.
There have been many days since October 7th when I was inconsolable; the pain of knowing how our men, women, children and babies were being viciously treated by those for whom the existence of a conscience was long ago extinguished in the infernos of their unmitigated hatred.
It was during one of these times that The Captive was written. After deliberating about sharing this, I have decided to do so and I hope that in reading this, you will recite a prayer for those still in captivity. Your prayers sprinkle the heavens with hope.
See the poem below.
The Captive Part 1
Gabrielle
© 9-23-24
I am surrounded by total darkness, my legs are numb and cold,
the hot, humid air seeks to suffocate my every breath.
My attempts to see are blinded by silent screams for light.
Even the tiniest shard would let me better orient myself.
There is no light.
Seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks….months, how long have I been here?
I can hear their voices, they are coming for me again,
So many footsteps…faint but becoming louder, and I know I am about to be taken again.
They each whisper into my ear, words of their predation carried in the sounds of their voices,
The treacherous, vile expressions assaulting me as I am raped again.
One, then another and yet another.
I cannot run, I cannot hide.
I am slowly disintegrating and
becoming a rudderless soul snared in this all-consuming evil.
My heart pounds, anxiety fills me with dread,
my muted screams imprisoned within me yet again.
My resignation holds out a must-believed promise; my survival,
I focus on the corner of this unbearably tiny, stench-filled room.
It is their repugnant body odor and the residual scent of another someone having been taken by force,
my nostrils are filled with this remnant of their suffering.
My apology for having such difficulty posting this poem; I do it all from my iPhone.
When reading, you may find part I after since it is too long.
In any way please know this is my heart for my people and the horrific suffering that comes from such hatred inflicted without mercy.
Gabrielle
Thank you for bearing your battered soul. I am offering compassion from G-d and myself for your bravery and determination to survive. I pray for your healing ❤️🩹.
Thank you for posting this, Gabrielle. Indeed, the God of Israel never slumbers nor sleeps. This poem struck deep into my heart, and I cannot imagine the level of pain inflicted in this terrible ordeal. My heart is always with the Jewish people, and I love you all more than words can describe. Every day, I pray for the Jewish people and for the remaining captives still trapped in this evil, degenerate darkness. My mind cannot conceive of such evil, and my heart aches for all who have been at the receiving end of what can be described no other way than as demonic, straight from the pit of Hell. Truly, I am so sorry.
The Captive Part 2
By Gabrielle
Tiny tears, still held in my eyes,
remind me of the few, remaining shards of my humanity.
Where once I was reluctant, now I have become submissive.
As I am, yet again, violently defiled they laugh and taunt me,
slandering my soul as an infidel.
Ruthlessly calling out their idolatrous god,
I feel worthless, humiliated, my body numb.
Somewhere, I can no longer find, the true essence of me has been sequestered,
it is a safe place, far removed from this unfolding tragedy.
I am lifted up, the residual fluids escaping down my legs and between my buttocks,
they do not bother to remove it.
I am sore, the pain traveling through me abruptly stops,
I am numb again.
They have blindfolded me,
and yet another form of darkness encroaches upon my sanity.
I cannot see though the blindfold,
I wonder, why are they moving me again?
I travel in this disheveled state for a long time,
hoisted upon one man’s back.
My arms and hands wrap around his neck,
His arms are grasping my bare bottom.
Their steps are not rhythmic,
the sound echoes,
It is the captors tune of self exaltation.
A door opens, even through the blindfold there is light,
Where am I and what will happen to me now?
I am unceremoniously dropped to the floor,
I dare not move, even to remove the blindfold.
In the distance I hear the sounds of Hebrew,
They grow louder as does the sound of soldiers moving quickly in unison.
They are here! One IDF soldier comes to me lifting me up,
He apologizes for seeing me partially undressed.
He turns away, gently telling me to pull up my pants and close my shirt,
I am trembling, yet with effort I am able to do so.
He cautions me to leave on the blindfold,
There is too much evil he does not want me to see.
He and another soldier put me on a stretcher and turn me face down,
We are moving in a rhythmic cadence.
My eyes remain covered but a light shines inside before me,
I quietly give thanks to the soldiers rescuing me and for my answered prayers.
As I am gently placed in the ambulance, my blindfold is untied, slowly removing a sign of my captivity.
I am freed and my heart sings a new song to the G-d of Israel.
What kind of a religion is Islam and what kind of a god do they
worship? Every time you turn around, a Muslim is committing
a jihad terror attack all over the world – the one in New Orleans
last month that killed 15 and injured scores more and the one
the other day in Munich that injured 28, including children – to
cite a few of many, many examples.
These were vehicular jihad attacks but their terror attacks can
be even worse. One might think the vicious sadism perpetrated
on Israeli Jews on Oct. 23rd is an anomaly in the usual jihad
attacks but then one calls to mind jihad at the Bataclan Theater
in Paris some years back in which over 40o were injured and 90
died but not before they were first mutilated and tortured.
Yarden Bibas might be safely back home in Israel but his torture
continues – not knowing the fate of his wife and children in the
hands of monsters such as these.
What kind of religion is Islam? A false religion, which stems from the worship of the pagan moon god, Allah (just look at the flags of Muslim countries along with the articles that describe archaeological evidence identifying Allah as a lunar deity). “Allah” is not synonymous with God – in fact, it is the opposite. It is satanic to the core. Anyone who claims they can refute this information is a pro-Islam apologist with an anti-Christian bent and will use various buzzwords like “Islamophobic” to shut you down.
Allah is a demon – one of his names within Islam is “The Great Deceiver”, which, to my mind, corresponds to Satan’s epithet, “The Father of Lies”. And it definitely demonstrates that he is not identical with the God of Israel.
Islam is NOT a religion, just a totalitarian ideology masquerading as one. And as ong as we refuse to acknowledge the fact, its followers will go on setting the world on fire.
ISLAM IS EVIL 👹
When one encounters a decent Muslim, he is decent in spite of his faith, not because of it.
I am livid at the idiots walking around with their kefiyas around their necks pretending to be “radical chic”. In reality, they are vile Jew-haters who revel in the rape and mutilation of Jews. We need to boycott their performances if they are singer, actors or dancers, and boycott their businesses. The kefyiya is the new swastika.
I fear for the Bibas mother and her infants.
The evil you went through, is what my savior Jesus went through so I would not have too!!
I pray for you and your family!!
Psalm 118:6 “The LORD is for me; I will not fear; What can man do to me?”
Ask Job. As it turns out, the LORD can utterly take away EVERYTHING we hold dear in this life. Abraham was willing to offer Isaac as a sacrifice, because he believed God was faithful, and would not waver in His promises to make a great nation through Isaac. And Abraham’s faith, demonstrated by his obedience, was accounted to Abraham as righteousness.
I pray fervently that Yarden Bibas’ family is restored to him to his great happiness and theirs. And that they all would know the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension, guarding their hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. See Isaiah 26:3 and Philippians 4:7.
May the God of Yeshua pour out miracles of strength and encouragement to the remaining live hostages. May He return them to their loved ones and to life that they may know Him and the eternal salvation He offers. 🙏💙
Gabrielle,
Thank you for your candor in sharing a glimpse into your captivity. May the God of peace, Yeshua, bring His peace into your spirit and give you strength to recover. I pray for you, the remaining hostages, and all the families.
The evil you endured needs to be eradicated.
Their always hiding heir faces just like Antifa and the KKK dose what have they got to hide their faces for?
They know deep in their soul what they’re doing is evil. They’re ashamed. And the will stand before Jehovah and answer for their satanic crimes!
They are evil cowards as are their supporters on campus.
What kind of god do they worship? A nonexistent god. They worship lucifer, the petulant, pathetic, fallen angel, wannabe god. He is the father of lies and exists to steal, kill, and destroy. He despises humans because we are created in the image of YHWH. And he especially hates God’s chosen people, Israelis. Abraham’s seed produced Yeshua Ha Mashiach, the promised Savior. His sinless life, death on the cross, and resurrection completely DEFEATED lucifer for all time, and He now holds the keys to hell and death. And as promised, Yeshua IS returning soon to rule and reign on this earth for a millennium. Lucifer and his minons will eventually be cast into the Lake of Fire for eternity. Yeshua is the Passover Lamb of God. Trust in His shed blood, death, and resurrection for your forgiveness of sin so you can be reconciled with YHWH and live in His kingdom forever. May Yeshua, Who loved you enough to die for you, bless and heal you.
As I am reading these comments, I have realized many of you have assumed in my writing this poem that I was a hostage.. As a survivor of horrible physical, emotional and sexual abuse starting as a very young child until leaving home at eighteen and going to college, I have had deeply parallel experiences of what is necessary to survive such onslaughts to your very being. I wrote this with the deepest respect, regard and empathy for what it can be like for those captured and helpless to escape from those committing these life-threatening, soul destroying violations mercilessly inflicted.
As a Jewish woman, I felt this an empathetic ode to our people in such hell, withstanding immeasurable suffering yet remaining in the deepest parts of their souls hopeful.
If I have done anything other than that, please accept my deepest apology.
Gabrielle
It is your identification with your people that gives you the right to pray for them. And which also gives us some insight to inform our prayers.
I pray for Israel daily and the return of all the hostages. I love you and pray that our Father in heaven bless you with a mended soul. Never give up! Israel is so brave! Thank YOU Jesus!!!
Praying for all the hostages and their families….as an older American my heart hurts when I hear and see the anti Jewish slogans…young people so brain washed and following along the leaders of this satanic rule…may they wake up before they leave this world and meet their judge…..they truly are blind..