By MOHAMMAD JAHJOUH, WAFAA SHURAFA and MELANIE LIDMAN, Related Press
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Hamas on Thursday launched the our bodies of 4 Israeli hostages, stated to incorporate a mom and her two kids who’ve lengthy been feared lifeless and had come to embody the nation’s agony following the Oct. 7, 2023, assault.
The stays have been presumed to incorporate Shiri Bibas and her two kids, Ariel and Kfir — and the Israeli authorities confirmed that one of many our bodies returned was of Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 when he was kidnapped. Kfir, who was 9 months outdated when he was taken, was the youngest captive. Hamas has stated all 4 have been killed together with their guards in Israeli airstrikes.
The somber temper throughout Israel on Thursday contrasted with the sense of pleasure and reduction which have accompanied the current return of dwelling hostages underneath the month-old ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist group by america, Canada and the European Union.
A whole bunch of mourners carrying Israeli flags and yellow solidarity flags lined Israeli highways to pay tribute as automobiles carrying the stays drove by. In Tel Aviv, a whole bunch of individuals gathered on the metropolis’s hostage sq., weeping and standing in silence as they adopted the day’s occasions and watched dwelling movies on a big display of the hostages once they have been alive.
“Our hearts — the hearts of a complete nation — lie in tatters,” Israeli President Isaac Herzog stated in an announcement. “On behalf of the State of Israel, I bow my head and express regret. Forgiveness for not defending you on that horrible day. Forgiveness for not bringing you dwelling safely.”
Earlier than the handoff of the our bodies, fighters within the Gaza Strip displayed 4 black coffins on a stage surrounded by banners, together with a big one depicting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a vampire. 1000’s of individuals, together with massive numbers of masked and armed fighters, regarded on because the coffins have been loaded onto Purple Cross automobiles earlier than being pushed to Israeli forces.
The Israeli army held a small funeral ceremony, on the request of the households, earlier than transferring the our bodies to a laboratory for formal identification utilizing DNA, a course of that might take as much as two days.
Lifshitz’ household later stated his stays had been formally recognized.
“We had hoped and prayed a lot for a unique end result,” they stated in an announcement. “Now we will mourn the husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather who has been lacking from us since October 7.”
Israelis have celebrated the return of 24 dwelling hostages in current weeks underneath a tenuous ceasefire that paused over 15 months of warfare. However the handover on Thursday was a grim reminder of those that died in captivity because the talks main as much as the truce dragged on for over a yr.
The 4 our bodies have been the primary of eight hostages that Israel believes are lifeless set to be returned through the present section of the ceasefire.
It might additionally present impetus for negotiations on the second stage of the ceasefire which have hardly begun. The primary section is about to finish firstly of March.
Toddler was the youngest taken hostage
Kfir Bibas was simply 9 months outdated, a red-headed toddler with a toothless smile, when terrorists stormed into the household’s dwelling on Oct. 7, 2023. His brother Ariel was 4. Video shot that day confirmed a terrified Shiri swaddling the 2 boys as terrorists led them into Gaza.
Her husband, Yarden Bibas, was taken individually and launched this month after 16 months in captivity.
Family in Israel have clung to hope, marking Kfir’s first and second birthdays and his brother’s fifth. The Bibas household stated in an announcement Wednesday that it will look forward to “identification procedures” earlier than acknowledging that their family members have been lifeless.
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Supporters all through Israel have worn orange in solidarity with the household — a reference to 2 boys’ crimson hair — and a preferred kids’s track was written of their honor.
Just like the Bibas household, Oded Lifshitz was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz, alongside along with his spouse Yocheved, who was freed throughout a weeklong ceasefire in November 2023. Oded was a journalist who campaigned for the popularity of Palestinian rights and peace between Arabs and Jews.
Hamas-led terrorists kidnapped 251 hostages, together with some 30 kids, within the Oct. 7 assault, during which in addition they killed some 1,200 folks, principally civilians.
Greater than half the hostages, and a lot of the girls and kids, have been launched in ceasefire agreements or different offers. Israeli forces have rescued eight and have recovered dozens of our bodies of individuals killed within the preliminary assault or who died in captivity.
It’s not clear if the ceasefire will final
Hamas is about to free six dwelling hostages on Saturday in alternate for a whole bunch of Palestinian prisoners, and says it should launch 4 extra our bodies subsequent week, finishing the ceasefire’s first section. That can depart the combatants with some 60 hostages, all males, round half of whom are believed to be lifeless.
Hamas has stated it received’t launch the remaining captives with out a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal. Netanyahu, with the total backing of the Trump administration, says he’s dedicated to destroying Hamas’ army and governing capacities and returning all of the hostages, targets broadly seen as mutually unique.
Trump’s proposal to take away some 2 million Palestinians from Gaza so the U.S. can personal and rebuild it, which has been welcomed by Netanyahu however universally rejected by Palestinians and Arab international locations, has thrown the ceasefire into additional doubt.
Hamas could possibly be reluctant to free extra hostages if it believes the warfare will resume with the objective of annihilating the group or forcibly transferring Gaza’s inhabitants.
Israel’s army offensive killed over 48,000 Palestinians, principally girls and kids, in keeping with Gaza’s Well being Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its data. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 fighters, with out offering proof.
The offensive destroyed huge areas of Gaza, lowering total neighborhoods to fields of rubble and bombed-out buildings. At its peak, the warfare displaced 90% of Gaza’s inhabitants. Many have returned to their properties to search out nothing left and no approach of rebuilding.
Shurafa reported from Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, and Jahjouh reported from Khan Younis, Gaza Strip.
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