Thousands of Israelis lined the streets to mourn the Bibases, who were taken hostage in the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, and had become a symbol of the country’s trauma.

The plight of the Bibas family has come to embody the profound sense of loss and grief still permeating Israel.

Orange balloons, representing the children’s red hair, were tied near the cemetery in Kibbutz Nir Oz, where the family had lived before their abduction