Israel braced on Thursday for the return of the bodies of infant Kfir Bibas and his four-year-old brother Ariel, the youngest captives taken by Hamas during the October 7, 2023, attack. The bodies of the boys, their mother Shiri Bibas, and 83-year-old Oded Lifshitz were handed over under a Gaza ceasefire agreement reached last month with U.S. backing and mediation from Qatar and Egypt.
According to AP News, Hamas displayed four black coffins on a stage surrounded by banners as Red Cross vehicles arrived at the handover site on the outskirts of Khan Younis, southern Gaza. Thousands of people, including masked Hamas militants, were present. Israeli TV channels did not broadcast the handover, and Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, usually a focal point for such events, remained empty due to rain.
Palestinians gather as Hamas fighters deploy ahead of handing over the bodies of four Israeli hostages, including a mother and her two children, who had long been feared dead, to the Red Cross in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a brief video statement, “Thursday is a very difficult day for the state of Israel. An upsetting day, a day of grief.” Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich added on X, “We rise to a difficult morning for all of us. A morning that sharpens the cruelty of our enemies and the justice of our determined war against them until they are destroyed from the face of the earth.”
According to Reuters, Hamas had claimed in November 2023 that Shiri Bibas and her children were killed in an Israeli airstrike. However, Israeli authorities had not confirmed their deaths until now. The Bibas family expressed that their “journey is not over” until full DNA checks are completed.
FILE PHOTO: Posters showing hostages lie on a table, following the deadly October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, in Kibbutz Nir Oz, Israel, February 19, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo
Kfir Bibas was only nine months old when militants stormed the family’s home in Kibbutz Nir Oz. His red hair and toothless smile became symbols of national anguish. His father, Yarden Bibas, was released earlier this month after 16 months in captivity. The family’s supporters wore orange in solidarity, a nod to the boys’ red hair, and a popular children’s song was written in their honor.
Oded Lifshitz, also abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, was a journalist and advocate for Palestinian rights. His wife, Yocheved Lifshitz, was released during a ceasefire in November 2023.
A poster advocating for the release of Oded Lifshitz hangs in his daughter, Sharone Lifschitz’s, home in London, Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Thursday’s handover marks the first return of deceased hostages under the current ceasefire agreement. The fragile ceasefire, effective since January 19, has seen the return of 24 living hostages and remains broadly supported by the Israeli public despite criticism from Netanyahu’s far-right coalition allies.
The handover could renew momentum for the second phase of the ceasefire agreement. This next phase aims to recover approximately 60 remaining hostages—fewer than half are believed to be alive—and discuss a full Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza. However, major challenges persist, including disagreements over Gaza’s future governance.
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza began after the October 7 Hamas-led attack, which killed around 1,200 people and saw 251 hostages taken, according to Israeli tallies. Palestinian health authorities report that the Israeli response has killed around 48,000 people and left Gaza largely in ruins.
