Hamas returns the bodies of 4 Israeli hostages, believed to include the mother and her two children

Khan Younis in Gaza Strip – Hamas released the bodies of four Israeli hostages on Thursday, allegedly including a mother and her two young children who have long been feared and embodied their suffering in the pain of the country Hamas attacks Israel on October 7, 2023.

It is said that the body is Shiri Bibas and her two childrenAriel and Kfir and Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 years old when he was kidnapped. Kfir was nine months old when he was taken away and was the youngest of all prisoners. Hamas said all four people were killed in Israeli air strikes.

“Our hearts – the hearts of the whole nation are in shattering,” Israeli President Isaac Herzog said in a statement. “On behalf of the State of Israel, I lowered my head and asked for forgiveness. Forgiveness is not there That terrible day protects you. Forgiveness has not taken you home safely.”

Militants showcase four black coffins on the stage surrounded by banners, including one large coffin, depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a vampire as the Red Cross arrives in Gaza Site scene. The warrior then transported the coffin to the Red Cross vehicle, where the staff wearing red vests covered them with white sheets and placed them inside.

Reuters News Agency pointed out that every coffin has photos of hostages.

The Red Cross Guard returns to Israel and authorities will use DNA to formally identify the remains, which is expected to take two days. Only in this way can these families get final notification.

A statement from Netanyahu's office confirmed that Israel “received the coffin of four fallen hostages.”

Thursday will be “a very difficult day for the State of Israel. It's a frustrating day, a sad day,” Netanyahu said in a brief video statement.

Thousands of people, including numerous masked and armed fighters from Hamas and other factions, gathered at the handover site in the suburb of Khan Younis, a city in southern Gaza.

Israel Channel has not played the handover. At the Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, Israelis gathered there to watch the release of the live hostages, and the large screen shows a compilation of photos and videos of the Lifshitz and Bibas families, including a smiling baby KFIR and a family in Batman costume.

Dozens of residents of Kibbutz Nir Oz have been kidnapped and gathered outside a temporary house that was one hour north of Kibbutz to wave the Israeli flag.

Israelis celebrated the return of 24 living hostages in recent weeks A fragile ceasefire It stopped within 15 months of the war. But Thursday’s handover will put those in captivity in trouble as conversations that led to a truce delayed for more than a year.

It can also have little impetus for negotiations in the second phase of the ceasefire. The first phase will end in early March.

Kfir Bibas is only 9 months old, a toothless red-headed baby, and militants rushed into their family’s home on October 7, 2023. The militants brought them to Gaza.

Her husband, Yarden Bibas, was taken away separately and released this month after being imprisoned for 16 months.

Israel's relatives held on to hope, marking Kefir's first and second birthdays and his brother's fifth place. The Bibas family said in a statement Wednesday that it will wait for a “identity procedure” before admitting that its loved ones have died.

Supporters across Israel are united with their families – mentioning the red hair of the two boys – a popular children's song was written for their honor.

Like the Bibas family, ODED LIFSHITZ was kidnapped with Kibbutz Nir Oz, whose wife Yocheved was released during a week-long ceasefire in November 2023. ODED is a journalist who runs for recognition of Palestinian rights and peace between Arabs and Jews.

In the October 7 attack, militants led by Hamas kidnapped 251 hostages, including about 30 children, and about 1,200 of them were killed, most of them civilians.

More than half of the hostages, as well as most women and children, have been released in a ceasefire agreement or other transactions. Israeli troops have rescued eight people and recovered dozens of people who were killed or imprisoned in the first attack.

Hamas will release six living hostages on Saturday in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and said four bodies will be released next week to complete the first phase of the ceasefire. This would leave the militants with about 60 hostages, all of whom, about half considered dead.

Hamas said that without a lasting ceasefire and the evacuation of all Israel, the remaining prisoners would not be released. Netanyahu, with full support from the Trump administration, said he was committed to destroying Hamas' military and management capabilities and returning to all hostages, with the goal widely regarded as mutually exclusive.

Trump's proposal to withdraw about 2 million Palestinians from Gaza so that the United States can own and rebuild it is welcomed by Netanyahu but generally rejected by Palestinians and Arab countries, Put the ceasefire into further doubts.

Hamas may be reluctant to release more hostages if he believes the war will resume to annihilate the group or forcefully transfer the Gaza population.

According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, Israel's military offensive killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, mainly women and children, and the ministry did not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its records. Israel said it has killed more than 17,000 fighter jets, but provided no evidence.

The offensive destroyed a vast area of ​​Gaza, reducing the entire community to fields of rubble and blown up buildings. At its peak, war accounted for 90% of Gaza's population. Many people return home and find what’s left and have not rebuilt.