Dozens of Israelis waving national flags gathered today in Kibbutz Kissufim, where a long convoy of vehicles carrying the remains of four hostages handed over earlier in the day by the Palestinian Islamist movement “Hamas“ set off, Agence France-Presse reported, BTA reports.
Earlier, armed men in hoods handed over near Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, black coffins believed to contain the bodies of Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas and her two children – Ariel and Kfir (aged 4 years and 8 months respectively on the day of the kidnapping), as well as 83-year-old Oded Lifshitz. Lifshitz's family confirmed his identity.
This is the first handover of hostage bodies by “Hamas“ since the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which led to the outbreak of the war in Gaza. The return of the remains comes in the context of several hostage exchanges for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel since the ceasefire came into effect on January 19.
In Tel Aviv, hundreds of people gathered at “Hostage Square“, where demonstrations are regularly held demanding the release of captured Israelis. "This is one of the hardest days since October 7," said Tanya Cohen Uzieli, a 59-year-old museum director, expressing her guilt that "perhaps not enough was done to prevent this tragedy."
Pictures of the Bibas family and Oded Lifshitz were projected on large screens, and attendees held orange balloons - a symbol of the red hair of the Bibas children. The deaths of Shiri Bibas and her sons were announced by "Hamas" back in November 2023, but Israel has not confirmed it yet.
“I am speechless, my heart is broken“, said Sharon Gazit, a 60-year-old Tel Aviv resident.
In the early afternoon, the coffins arrived at the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute in Tel Aviv, where hundreds of Israelis gathered to pay their respects.
Israeli President Yitzhak Herzog described the return of the bodies as a national tragedy. “Agony. Suffering. I am speechless. Our hearts are broken“, he wrote on the social network “Ex“. He expressed his regret, saying: “On behalf of the State of Israel, I bow my head and ask for forgiveness – for not protecting you on that terrible day and for not bringing you home alive.
Since the beginning of the ceasefire brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the US, 19 Israeli hostages have been released in exchange for over 1,100 Palestinian prisoners.
Meanwhile, “Hamas“ has announced that it is ready to release all remaining hostages in Gaza all at once, rather than in stages, as part of the second phase of the truce.