On Thursday, Hamas is set to return the remains of four Israeli hostages, including baby Kfir Bibas and his four-year-old brother, Ariel. The two children were taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz along with their mother, Shiri Bibas, during the October 7, 2023, attack. According to Hamas, all three were killed in an Israeli airstrike in November. Separate abduction led to the release of their father, Yarden Bibas, earlier this month.
The body of 83-year-old Oded Lifshitz, another Nir Oz resident, will also be returned. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the occasion as a day of national mourning, emphasizing the brutality of Hamas and Israel’s determination to prevent future tragedies.
A formal ceremony will take place once the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) receive the bodies from the Red Cross. The coffins, draped in Israeli flags, will be honored with military salutes and readings from Psalms before being transported to the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv for identification. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum has encouraged the public to stand along the convoy’s route as a show of solidarity.
As part of an ongoing ceasefire agreement, six living hostages are expected to be freed on Saturday in exchange for the release of Palestinian detainees held by Israel. The ceasefire, which began on January 19, is now entering its next phase. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar confirmed that further negotiations are scheduled this week.
A Hamas official stated that the group is willing to release the remaining hostages all at once rather than gradually, but only if Israel agrees to withdraw its troops from Gaza and halt military operations permanently.
Currently, approximately 70 hostages remain in Hamas custody, with around half believed to be alive. Since the ceasefire started, Hamas has released 24 captives, while Israel has freed over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. Despite diplomatic efforts, Israel, with backing from the United States, remains firm on its objective to dismantle Hamas’s military and political influence in Gaza.
The October 7 attack led to the deaths of approximately 1,200 Israelis, with around 250 taken hostages. In response, Israeli air and ground offensives have resulted in over 48,200 Palestinian casualties, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The IDF claims 17,000 of those killed were militants. The war has devastated much of Gaza, leaving millions displaced and worsening the humanitarian crisis.
