On Thursday, Hamas published the bodies of four Israeli hostages, which are said to cover their mother and her two children, who have long been afraid of the dead and came to embodiment the agony of the nation after the attack on October 7, 2023.
It is said that the remains are Shiri Bibas and her two children, Ariel and Kfir, as well as Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 when he was abducted. Kfir, who was nine months old when he was taken, was the youngest in captivity. Hamas said that all four were killed with their guards in Israeli raids.
Red cross vehicles left the place of handing over in the Gaza Strip with four black coffins that were placed on the stage. Each of the Taskaks had a small picture of hostages.
Hamas gave the bodies on the basis of a gauze suspension agreement, they achieved last month with the United States yard and the mediation of Qatar and Egypt.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a short video statement that Thursday would be “a very difficult day for the state of Israel. A disturbing day, day of regret. “
Hundreds of people gathered in winter cold before handing over to Khan Youunis in southern Gaza. Armed Hamas fighters in black and camouflage uniforms visited this area.
One fighter stood next to the poster of a man standing over the coffins wrapped in the Israeli flag. Instead of his legs, he had trees roots in the ground, suggesting that the earth belongs to Palestinians. The poster was “Return of the War = Return of prisoners in the coffins.”
The Bibas family, including their father Yarden, was abducted in Kibbutz Nir Oz, one of the series of communities near Gaza, which were mastered by the attackers led by Hamas from Gaza on October 7.
Hamas said in November 2023 that the boys and their mother were killed in the Israeli raid, but their death was never confirmed by the Israeli authorities, and even at the last minute some refused to accept that they were dead.
“Shiri and children became a symbol,” said Yiftach Cohen, a resident of Nir Oz, who lost about a quarter of residents, killed or kidnapped during the assault of October 7. “I still hope they will live.”
Father published earlier
Yarden Bibas was returned this month in an earlier exchange of hostages for prisoners. But the family said this week that “the journey was not over” until they received the final confirmation of what happened to the boys and their mother.
“We wake up on a difficult morning for all of us. The morning, which sharpens the cruelty of our enemies and justice of our determined war against them until they are destroyed from the earth's surface, “said Israeli Minister of Finance Nziealel Smotry Post on the Social Media Platform X.
A large poster was disconnected at the transfer site, depicting Netanyahu as a vampire standing above the photos of four hostages. “The criminal wars of Netanyahu and his Nazi army killed them with missiles from Zionist combat aircraft,” read the poster.
After handing over, the remains will be moved to the casket wrapped in an Israeli flag, and the rabbi of the army will provide a short ceremony. Then they will be taken to Israel to the National Forensic Institute, which will be identified, a process that can take several hours or even several days.
Only after the identification will the formal announcement about their death and funeral take place.
Identity not confirmed
The transfer means the first return of dead bodies during the current contract, and Israel is not to confirm its identity until the full DNA controls are completed.
Despite the accusations on both sides of the arms suspension violations, a fragile agreement, which entered into force on January 19, was created from the first in a series of exchanges of hostages in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners and detained by Israel.
Netanyahu met with criticism on the part of the far -right coalition allies for the agreement to the contract that some in Israel feel Hamas awards and leaves a group of fighters in Gaza.
However, subsequent surveys showed broad support among the society for the suspension of weapons, and thousands of Israelis went out into the streets to demand the government to stick to the contract until all the remaining hostages are returned.
Israel attacked the coastal enclave after Hamas attack on the community in Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, according to Israelis and taking 251 as hostages.
According to the Palestinian data of the Ministry of Health, the Israeli military campaign killed over 48,000 Palestinians in Gaza in Gaza, destroyed many of its buildings and left most of the homeless people.
More hostages to spend
After Thursday's donation of bodies, six live hostages will return on Saturday, in exchange for hundreds of subsequent Palestinians, expected women and minors detained by Israeli forces in Gaza during the war.
According to the arms suspension agreement, Hamas agreed to release 33 hostages in exchange for almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detained in the first phase of the intended agreement to open the way to the end of the war in Gaza.
Until now, 19 Israeli hostages have been issued, as well as five Thai, who returned in an unplanned transfer.
Negotiations on the second phase, it is expected that the return of about 60 other hostages, of which less than half are considered alive, and expected to fully withdraw the Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip to allow the end of the war to start in the coming days.