Hamas returns bodies of four Israeli hostages in Gaza

The remains were said to be of Shiri Bibas, pictured, and her two children, Ariel and Kfir, as well as Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 when he was abducted (Hostages Family Forum via AP)

Hamas has released the bodies of four Israeli hostages, said to include a mother and her two children who have long been feared dead and had come to embody the nation’s agony following the October 7 2023 attack.

The militants displayed four black coffins on a stage surrounded by banners as Red Cross vehicles arrived at the scene in the Gaza Strip.

The fighters then carried the coffins to Red Cross vehicles, where personnel in red vests covered them in white sheets before placing them inside. The convoy headed back to Israel, where authorities will identify the remains.

The remains were said to be of Shiri Bibas and her two children, Ariel and Kfir, as well as Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 when he was abducted. Kfir was the youngest captive taken that day. Hamas has said all four were killed along with their guards in Israeli airstrikes.

Thousands of people, including large numbers of masked and armed fighters from Hamas and other factions, gathered at the handover site on the outskirts of the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.

Israeli channels did not broadcast the handover, and there were no plans to show it live in Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, where Israelis have gathered to watch the release of living hostages. The square was empty as it rained on and off in both locations, which are about 60 miles (100km) apart.

Israelis have celebrated the return of 24 living hostages in recent weeks under a tenuous ceasefire that paused over 15 months of war. But the handover on Thursday will provide a grim reminder of those who died in captivity as the talks leading up to the truce dragged on for more than a year.

It could also provide impetus for negotiations on the second stage of the ceasefire that have hardly begun. The first phase is set to end at the beginning of March.