Aunt of abducted Bibas children, Kfir (1) and Ariel (4), asks Americans to call Congress, appeal for her family's release

Ofri Bibas Levy, the sister of Yarden Bibas, who is being held hostage in Gaza by Hamas terrorists, along with his wife and two small children, pleaded with CNN news readers on Thursday to not forget all about her beloved relatives.

“When countless people around the world watched the footage of armed terrorists abducting two little redheaded boys and their mother on October 7th, we were naive enough to believe it would be just a matter of days until the world’s outrage would be so great, the pressure so severe, that Hamas would surely release my nephews,” Levy wrote in an op-ed for CNN.

Her nephews, (now) one-year-old Kfir and his older brother Ariel (4) were kidnapped from their home with their mother, Shiri, and separated from their father who was later featured in a Hamas psychological warfare video being presented with the alleged news that his wife and sons were killed in an Israeli airstrike.

In her article, Levy asked why the world accepts terrorists taking children hostage as the new normal.

“As the months go by, I wonder: Have the mothers and fathers of the world forgotten them? What if Ariel and Kfir were your children, your nephews? Has this become the world’s new normal? Is it no longer barbaric to take children as hostages?”

Levy also questioned the rationality of exchanging terrorists who committed mass murder with innocent children in hostage deals.

“The truth is, we should not need to wait for a deal for Hamas to release Kfir and Ariel. Why should prisoners be released in order for innocent children to be set free? Why should a terrorist organization be permitted by the world to receive its demands? It should never be acceptable to hold children hostage — no matter the context. Terrorists abducted nearly 40 babies, children and teenagers on October 7th.”

Levy appealed to world leaders to finally draw a red line in the sand and put pressure on Hamas to release the hostages, instead of treating their lives as an afterthought to their calls for a ceasefire.

“I go to bed every night with the same question on my mind: Why are world leaders signaling to terrorists everywhere that it is okay to take children hostage? How do they not see that they are doing Hamas’ work by insisting that Israel agree to a ceasefire when 134 hostages remain in captivity?" she wrote.

"Releasing the hostages should have been the cry heard around the world since October 7th. Instead, the cry heard around the world is for a ceasefire, as if the lives of the hostages are an afterthought. Before October 7th, I thought there was an agreed-upon red line that it was never acceptable to take civilians hostage. Sadly, that red line has been violently erased," she continued.

"Now, at the very least, can we agree to draw a red line around abducting innocent children? Terror groups around the world are watching how you all respond or don’t respond. They hear your silence, and they are taking notes.”

Levy implored U.S. citizens to call their congressional representatives and urge them to fight for the release of the hostages.

“Take action. Call your congressional representative, urge them to keep the hostages top of mind. Share the hostages’ plight on your social network. We desperately need your help. It shouldn’t need to be said that this is not the world our children should grow up in.”