Sober moments as Hamas release bodies of deceased Israeli hostages

Israel's President apologises to citizens

It was a sober moment when on Thursday and for the first time since October 7, 2023 Hamas released four deceased Israeli hostages in the southern city of Khan Younis.

This happened with a funeral ceremony or Macabre.

The deceased bodies are said to include the bodies of victims whom they kidnapped 16 months ago.

They were, 32 year old Shiri Bibas, and her sons Ariel, 4, and Kfir, 9 months, who were abducted from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, southern Israel by Hamas-led militants more than 16 months ago.

The two boys have now become the most recognizable victims of the October 7 terror attacks, and the first return of hostage bodies marks a hugely emotional moment for Israel.

The fourth body is said to be that of 83 years old Oded Lifshitz, who was kidnapped along with his wife, Yocheved Lifshitz,

Both were kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz. But his wife Yocheved was released by Hamas on October 24, 2023.

Right before the handover, Hamas militants placed four black caskets on a stage in Khan Younis.

Behind the caskets was a backdrop with slogans in Arabic, Hebrew and English.

Israeli authorities confirmed that the caskets were first handed to the Red Cross then transferred to the Israeli military inside Gaza,

Forensic examination will be carried out on the bodies at the Abu Kabir Institute of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog after the handover, on behalf of the government apologized to the Country for their failure to protect those captured on October 7.

Hamas had claimed in November 2023 that the Bibas children and their mother were killed in an Israeli airstrike, but had no proof for their claim.

Israel has never confirmed their deaths.

The children’s father, Yarden Bibas, who was one of the 19 Israeli hostages freed alive under the January 2025 ceasefire deal was released by Hamas earlier this month after 484 days of captivity..

The Israeli military had before now retrieved the bodies of multiple hostages in Gaza.

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