Hamas returns 4 Israeli bodies said to include a mother and her 2 young children
Thursday’s handover could provide impetus for negotiations on the second stage of the ceasefire that have hardly begun
Hamas on Thursday released the bodies of four Israeli hostages, said to include a mother and her two children who have long been feared dead and had come to embody the nation’s agony following the October 7, 2023 attack.
The militants displayed four black coffins on a stage surrounded by banners as Red Cross vehicles arrived at the scene in the Gaza Strip. The fighters then carried the coffins over to Red Cross vehicles, where staffers in red vests covered them in white sheets before placing them inside. The convoy headed back to Israel, where authorities will identify the remains.
The remains were said to be of Shiri Bibas and her two children, Ariel and Kfir, as well as Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 when he was abducted. Kfir was the youngest captive taken that day. Hamas has said all four were killed along with their guards in Israeli air strikes.
The Israeli military held a short funeral ceremony on Thursday after receiving coffins from Hamas said to contain the remains of four hostages.
A military rabbi read a Kaddish prayer and chapters from the Book of Psalms, based on a request from the families. Troops fired ceremonial shots into the air.
Prior to the ceremony, the coffins were checked for explosives or dangerous substances.