The Israeli foreign minister expressed appreciation for Buenos Aires’s decision to declare two days of national mourning for the Bibas children.

By JNS

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar on Thursday spoke with his Argentinian counterpart to thank him for Buenos Aires’s “moral” support for Jerusalem in the war against the Hamas terrorist group.

“I spoke with Argentina’s Foreign Minister [Gerardo Werthein] and thanked him for President [Javier Milei’s] decision to declare two days of national mourning in memory of the children, Kfir and Ariel Bibas, who were brutally murdered by Hamas,” tweeted Sa’ar.

“We value Argentina’s moral stance against the absolute evil of Hamas, which must be eradicated, and the true friendship of Argentina under President Javier Milei’s leadership,” he added.

Kfir and Ariel were citizens of Argentina through their father, Yarden Bibas, who was released by Hamas in exchange for terrorists on Feb. 1.

One of the bodies that Israel received from Hamas on Thursday, which the terrorist organization said was that of the boys’ mother, Shiri Bibis, belongs to an unidentified person, the Israel Defense Forces said on Friday morning.

The National Institute of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv and the Israel Police identified two of the four returned bodies as Ariel and Kfir, whom terrorists “brutally murdered” in captivity in November 2023, the Israeli military said. At that time, the boys would have been ages 4 years and 10 months old, respectively.

The fourth body was identified as that of Oded Lifshitz.

On Thursday, an X account associated with the election campaign of Milei featured a post with a picture of the Bibas children and their mother and their last names in Hebrew. “Baruch dayan emet,” read the post, a Hebrew phrase spoken after learning of someone’s death, that means “Blessed is the true Judge.”

Earlier this month, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana met in Jerusalem with Werthein, who is of Russian Jewish origin, and extended an invitation to Milei to address the Israeli parliament.

Ohana praised Milei, calling him the “most pro-Israeli president in the history of Argentina.” He said delivering a speech at the Knesset’s plenum would be “appropriate for the great friend to Israel that he is.”

He also thanked Werthein on behalf of the Knesset for the South American nation’s “firm stand by Israel from the very beginning.”

In February 2024, Milei traveled to Israel for a wartime solidarity visit, reiterating his pledge to move his nation’s embassy to Jerusalem and opening a new chapter in bilateral relations.