On Thursday, HAMAS handed over the bodies of four Israeli hostages to the Red Cross in Gaza, including a mother and her two children.
These are believed to be the remains of 32-year-old Shiri Bibas and her two sons: Ariel and Kfir, who were 4 years old and 9 months old at the time of their abduction, respectively. HAMAS also returned the body of Oded Lifshitz, who was taken hostage when he was 83 years old. For a long time, all of them were presumed dead, and the Bibas family became a symbol of national suffering following the terrorist attack in Khan Younis.
HAMAS stated that all four were killed along with their guards as a result of Israeli airstrikes. When Red Cross vehicles arrived at the site for the handover of the remains in the Gaza Strip, militants displayed four black coffins on a stage surrounded by banners, including one depicting Prime Minister Netanyahu as a vampire.
Afterward, the fighters carried the coffins to the Red Cross vehicles, where staff in red vests covered them with white sheets before placing them inside. The Red Cross convoy headed back to Israel, where authorities will conduct an official identification of the remains using DNA, a process expected to take up to two days. Only after this will the families receive final notification.
Thousands of people, including a large number of armed HAMAS militants and other masked Palestinian groups, gathered at the site of the body handover on the outskirts of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
Israeli channels did not broadcast the handover of the remains live. On the hostage square in Tel Aviv, a large screen displayed a compilation of photographs and videos of Lifshitz and the Bibas family, including a laughing baby Kfir and a family dressed in Batman costumes.
Dozens of residents from the Nir Oz kibbutz, where the four were abducted, gathered with Israeli flags in front of their temporary housing, an hour's drive north of the kibbutz.
Observers are divided on what this - the most tragic - episode of the first phase of the ceasefire, which began on January 19, will lead to. For some, the handover of the bodies on Thursday will serve as a grim reminder of those who perished in captivity while the parties negotiated an exchange. For others, this event may provide momentum for discussions on the second phase of the ceasefire. The first phase is set to conclude in early March.
The red-haired infant with a toothless smile, Kfir was only 9 months old when militants stormed the Bibas family home on October 7, 2023. In a video taken that day, a frightened Shiri is seen wrapping the two boys in blankets as the militants take them away to Gaza. Her husband, Yarden Bibas, was taken separately and was released this month after 16 months in captivity.
On Wednesday, the Bibas family stated that they would wait for the “identification procedure” before acknowledging that their loved ones had died. People across Israel wore orange clothing in solidarity with the family, referencing the red hair of the two boys. A popular children's song was written in their honor.
Like the Bibas family, Oded Lifshitz was abducted from the Nir Oz kibbutz along with his wife Yoheved, who was released during a week-long ceasefire in November 2023. Oded was a journalist advocating for Palestinian rights and peace between Arabs and Jews.
In total, HAMAS militants kidnapped 251 hostages during the attack on October 7, 2023, when up to 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed. More than half of the hostages were released as part of ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israeli forces rescued eight and recovered dozens of bodies of people killed during the initial attack or who died in captivity.
HAMAS plans to release six hostages on Saturday. After the first phase of the ceasefire concludes, militants will have about 60 hostages remaining, all of whom are men. It is believed that about half of them are dead. HAMAS has stated that they will not release the remaining captives without a long-term ceasefire and a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops.
As a result of Israel's military response to the October 7 attack, more than 48,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have died, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its reports. Israel claims that more than 17,000 militants have died, providing no evidence. At the height of the war, 90% of the population of Gaza was forced to flee their homes.