Hamas released the remains of four Israeli hostages earlier today, including the youngest hostage taken, a baby who was just nine months old when he was abducted. The emotional exchange involved the handover of the bodies of Kfir Bibas, his four-year-old brother Ariel, their 33-year-old mother Shiri, and 84-year-old Oded Lifshitz.
The Bibas family’s remains—whose kidnapping video has come to symbolize the atrocities of October 7—along with Lifshitz’s, will be brought to Israel for their funerals.
The four coffins were displayed on stage next to a disturbing mural, showing a bleeding Netanyahu standing over images of the Bibas family and Lifshitz, accompanied by a provocative inscription.
Two missiles were placed beside the coffins, marked with the message: ‘They were killed by USA bombs’ in English.
A crowd of armed Hamas terrorists and local Palestinians gathered in the southern Gaza City area of Khan Younis to witness the handover of the bodies.
Each coffin, draped in black, bore a photo of its respective victim along with an image of Netanyahu and a propagandist message.
Hamas fighters carried the bodies to an awaiting Red Cross vehicle, where workers covered the coffins with white sheets before placing them in the back of the vehicle.
The body of Shiri Bibas was brought first, followed by Kfir and Ariel, and lastly, Lifshitz’s body was carried to the trucks.
The transfer concluded as five Red Cross vehicles left the area in Khan Younis shortly before 10 a.m. on Thursday.
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed that the bodies were handed over to Israeli and ISA officials in Gaza.
Yitzhar Lifshitz, the son of Oded Lifshitz, expressed his anger over the victims’ tragic fate.
“(They) suffered tragic, agonizing deaths, without their families by their sides,” he said, as reported by the Times of Israel quoting Army Radio.
Lifshitz, determined to continue advocating for the hostages, vowed to keep fighting, despite the return of his father’s body to Israel.
“It’s not over for anyone today, even when the end is tragic we continue to pray for the hostages and the fallen who still need to be returned,” he said.
The Bibas family had never lost hope that their ginger-haired sons would be brought home alive, and they criticized the Israeli government for prematurely declaring the children deceased without evidence of their deaths.
The Bibas family has endured great hardship since November 2023, when Hamas released a propaganda video forcing Yarden Bibas, the father who was freed earlier this month, to announce the death of his wife and children.
Yarden broke down in tears as he claimed that Shiri and the boys were killed in an Israeli airstrike during the intense bombardments of Gaza.
However, Hamas failed to provide any proof that the family was killed in an airstrike, and Israel refused to confirm their deaths until today’s handover.
Despite the rumors, Yarden and his family held onto hope until the very end, suspecting that Hamas might be lying about the fate of Shiri and the boys, as they had done with other hostages.
The Lifshitz family had prepared for the worst, given that the last communication they had received from Oded was on Day 25 of the war.
His son, Yizhar, had previously told Ynet that they hadn’t heard any updates about his father since November 2023.
With Thursday’s release, Hamas is expected to free six living hostages on Shabbos, up from the three originally agreed upon as part of negotiations for accelerated humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Among the six are Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who were taken in 2014 and 2015, respectively, after they crossed into Gaza on their own. Both men are reported to have been suffering from mental health issues at the time.
If the exchange goes ahead as planned on Shabbos, Hamas is set to release four more bodies next week as part of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, which requires 33 hostages to be freed.
The first phase of the ceasefire will end on March 2, with the second and third phases focusing on securing the release of the remaining 59 hostages and working toward a permanent cessation of hostilities.
{Matzav.com}