Hamas terrorists created a deranged public spectacle to mark the release of the bodies of four slain Israelis, including Shiri Bibas and her two young children Ariel and Kfir, in the first transfer of dead hostages since the cease-fire deal with Hamas went into effect last month.
Hamas handed over the bodies of the three Bibas family members and Oded Lifshitz, a retired journalist, on Thursday. An Israeli forensics team must still confirm the identities of the four dead hostages.
The transfer occurred in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, where their remains in four coffins were handed over to the Red Cross. Hamas set up a stage with a backdrop calling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “war criminal” and accusing the Israeli military of killing the Bibas family. The propaganda depicted Netanyahu as a vampire looming over the four dead hostages.
In 2023, the Palestinian terrorist group claimed Shiri Bibas and her two toddlers were killed by Israeli missiles. Israel has yet to confirm how they died.
“As the bodies of four Israeli hostages are transferred by Hamas to the Red Cross, hundreds of ‘innocent Gazans’ dance to music, and happily film this tragic event,” the Israeli government’s press office posted on X. “Speechless doesn’t begin to describe how this makes us feel.”
The Israeli Defense Forces and Shin Bet later retrieved the bodies. IDF soldiers saluted the deceased hostages upon their return to Israel.
“Agony. Pain. There are no words. Our hearts — the hearts of an entire nation — lie in tatters,” Israeli President Isaac Herzog wrote on social media. “On behalf of the State of Israel, I bow my head and ask for forgiveness. Forgiveness for not protecting you on that terrible day. Forgiveness for not bringing you home safely. May their memory be a blessing.”
When they were kidnapped by the Palestinian terrorist group on October 7, 2023, Shiri was 32, Ariel was 4, and Kfir was 9 months old at the time. Yarden Bibas, the husband and father, survived in Hamas custody and was eventually released on February 1. Yarden, 35, was held in a different region of Gaza than his family.
Lifshitz was 83 years old at the time of his abduction; it’s not clear how he died. His then-85-year-old wife, Yocheved, was released on October 23, 2023, two weeks after Hamas massacred some 1,200 Israeli citizens and kidnapped about 250 people.
All four deceased hostages were taken from their homes in kibbutz Nir Oz.
The next transfer is set to occur on Saturday when Hamas will release an additional six hostages, all of whom are believed to be alive. They are the last living hostages set to be freed under the cease-fire deal’s first phase, which lasts six weeks. The agreement began January 19 and will end March 2.
An estimated 70 hostages remain in Hamas custody. About half are presumed dead.