‘Every Day Since October 7th Is October 7th’: Family Member of Israeli Hostages Tearfully Details Excruciating Year, Fears That He Will Next See Them at Their Funeral
Eylon Keshet, the cousin of Yarden Bibas, who was taken hostage by Hamas one year ago along with his wife, Shiri Bibas and their two children, Kfir and Ariel, joined CNN on Monday for a tearful segment in which he explained that “every day since” last October 7 “is October 7.”
Keshet detailed the excruciating pain he, his family, and other Israelis have dealt with over the last year after he was asked by CNN’s Brianna Keilar to “tell us about your cousin and what you want your cousin to know.”
“Yarden is, he’s such a loving and positive person that his absence is really felt in the family. Him, and his wife, and his kids are just very humorous people. And, you know, you feel their presence when they’re, when they’re there and when there’s a family gathering and you know that they’re coming, you’re glad about it, right? Because, you know, it’s going to be fun with them around. And I really miss him, I really miss them, and, you know, he’s a very loving father,” began Keshet.
He also said that the last time Keshet saw his cousin’s family, Bibas told him that they were planning on moving because they knew where they were was “not safe.”
He continued:
Unfortunately, they didn’t make it in time. And, you know, and the 7th of October happened and they didn’t make it out in time. And I can’t believe it’s been one year already. I really miss them and I am so afraid that I will not see them again. And I’m really afraid that the next time I see them will be a very big funeral for all of them. This is what I dread the most and I find it hard not to imagine it all the time. It’s hard for me not to imagine.
Like even if they are — even if they’re coming back, and I so wish they do. They lost so much: Shiri’s parents has been murdered, the dog has been murdered, the house was destroyed, their friends were murdered as well — butchered. And I know that even them coming back is only the beginning for them to heal. And for them to maybe someday be able to move on from everything that’s happened. Shiri probably doesn’t even know that her parents were murdered. Just, yeah, it will never be the same. It will never be the same before and after the 7th of October.
And people ask me today, like , “Today’s the 7th of October, How do you feel?” And I reply, I say, “Every day since October 7th is October 7th.” It’s not changed. Like, I don’t need the reminder today that this event has happened. I feel it every day in their absence and I feel it every day in the grief of my family. So, we really just want it to be over, we want them to be back. And it’s so hard that we are not, we are not feeling heard, not from our government, not not from the United Nations, and not from international community.
Watch above via CNN.
