Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu displayed images of Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, Ariel and Kfir, during an address at a combat officers’ graduation ceremony on Sunday, delivering a solemn message.

“I want to show you something. I want to show you this picture of Shiri Bibas and her tender children, Ariel and Kfir Bivas. This picture says it all; I ask that you engrave it on the board of your hearts, so that you will always remember what we are fighting for and against whom we are fighting,” Netanyahu told the graduates, according to Fox News’ translation of the Hebrew speech. “We are fighting to secure our existence against man-monsters who have risen to annihilate us.” 

“Already in the first days of the war, they murdered Shiri and her children in cold blood; they strangled the tender children with their own hands,” Netanyahu said, holding up a photo of the Bibas family. “And if they could, they would have killed us all with the same cruelty, until our very last man. Against this we fight, and these monsters we must and can defeat – and defeat them we will. This is our mission, and this is your mission!” 

“As the defenders of our homeland, each of you is imbued with purpose, wielding sword and shield,” he added. “We have high expectations of you, but I know that above all, you have expectations of yourselves.” 

in Gaza. 

“But let there be no doubt: we will complete the war objectives, including this one, to the very end,” he said. “It can be achieved through negotiation, and it can also be achieved by other means. From the start of the war, the conditions we set for its conclusion were clear – and they remain clear. All of our abductees, without exception, will return home. Hamas will not govern Gaza. Gaza will be purged, and its combat capability will be dismantled.” 
 

Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, said he plans to return to the region on Wednesday to negotiate an “extension” of Phase One of the ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas.