Hamas hands over bodies of four Israeli hostages, including children

The remains of the hostages were encased in four black coffins. Hamas fighters dressed in dark fatigues delivered the coffins to teams from the Red Cross in Khan Younis, Gaza, where crowds had gathered in the rain to watch. Red Cross vehicles then transferred the coffins to Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that “Israel has received, via the Red Cross, the coffins of four fallen hostages,” and their remains have been transferred to Israel for examination. “The families of the hostages have been informed, and our hearts are with them in this difficult time.”

President Isaac Herzog said “there are no words. Our hearts — the hearts of an entire nation — lie in tatters.”

Israel has not confirmed the deaths of Shiri, Ariel and Kfir, saying it will verify identities of the deceased only after forensic investigation. Hamas alleges that the mother and her children were killed by an Israeli airstrike but has not provided any evidence.

Hamas said the fourth body released Thursday was of Oded Lifshitz, a retired journalist and peace activist who was 83 at the time of the Oct. 7 attacks. Lifshitz was taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz with his wife, Yocheved, who was released by Hamas weeks later for “crushing humanitarian reasons,” according to a statement from the group at the time.

Yocheved, who is in her 80s, described the “unimaginable hell” of her time in captivity, which included beatings and being held in a “spiderweb” of tunnels.

Lifshitz’s daughter told the Associated Press in January that her father was shot in the hand and had fallen down as Hamas fighters attacked the kibbutz where her parents lived.

“That’s when my mom saw him last, and she was taken over on a motorbike and then the terrorists burned the house down,” Sharone Lifschitz told the AP. “They put gas into the house, and it burned and it burned and it burned until everything they ever owned, everything, was ashes.”

Similar to past releases, Hamas fighters erected large propaganda posters at the site of the handover in Gaza. “The return of war = the return of your prisoners in coffins,” read one of the signs. Hamas fighters displayed the coffins on a stage visible to the crowd before handing them over to the Red Cross.

Hamas has come under fierce criticism for parading hostages in front of raucous crowds during previous releases. The International Committee of the Red Cross has called for all exchanges to be carried out in a “dignified” manner.

“We must be clear: any degrading treatment during release operations is unacceptable,” it said in a statement Wednesday.

After Hamas announced the identities of the hostages whose bodies were set for release this week, the Bibas family issued a statement on Tuesday. “In the past few hours, we have been in turmoil,” it read. “Until we receive definitive confirmation, our journey is not over.”

The Gaza ceasefire is now in its fifth week, and the two sides were supposed to begin talks on the deal’s second phase, which calls for further hostage releases.

Hamas has offered to expedite the release of hostages by freeing six rather than the prescribed three on Saturday, hoping to build pressure on Israel to stick to the ceasefire agreement. Netanyahu has said he remains ready to return to war in the Gaza Strip.

The families of the hostages who are still held by Hamas in the Palestinian enclave have questioned the lack of progress on talks for the ceasefire’s second phase. They said in a statement that the stalled negotiations present a “clear and tangible” danger to their loved ones.

Hamas continues to hold 66 hostages taken by the group during the Oct. 7 attacks. Of those hostages, about 30 are believed to be alive. Hamas is also holding two hostages who were taken about a decade ago, as well as the remains of an Israeli soldier whose body was taken around the same time.

Hamas has offered to free all of the remaining hostages from Gaza at once, in return for a permanent truce and a full withdrawal of Israeli troops, according to a statement Tuesday from spokesperson Hazem Qassem.

The proposal is likely to be a nonstarter for Israel, which has demanded that Hamas disarm and leave Gaza. “The occupation’s condition of removing Hamas from the strip is a ridiculous psychological war, and the exit of the resistance or disarmament from Gaza is unacceptable,” Qassem added.