Israelis are mourning Thursday as the bodies of four hostages — including an elderly man and two small children — were returned in locked coffins, following a gruesome handover ceremony by Palestinian Hamas terrorists in Gaza.
The four hostages — Oded Lifshitz, 84; Shiri Bibas, 33; Ariel Bibas, 5; and Kfir Bibas, 2 — were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023, as part of a massive terror attack. They are among 33 hostages being returned to Israel, alive and dead, as part of the first phase of a ceasefire deal reached last month.
Some 66 hostages remain; six living hostages are to be returned on Saturday, leaving four more bodies to be returned under the first phase of the deal.
In return, Israel is returning hundreds of convicted Palestinian terrorists, including one involved in the murder of American-Israeli writer Ari Fuld, who shot and wounded the terrorist who fatally stabbed him, thereby saving others.
Hamas placed the coffins of the four dead hostages Thursday on a stage with a backdrop depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin as a vampire. It also hung signs on the adult coffins indicating October 7 as the date of “arrest.”
A Red Cross representative signs a document as the coffins containing the bodies, from right to left, Shiri Bibas, her two children, Ariel and Kfir and Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 when he was abducted, are displayed on a stage before being handed over by Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
During the ceremony, Hamas blamed Israel for the deaths of the hostages, claiming they were killed during Israeli air raids on Hamas terrorists. That unconfirmed claim, used in other cases, is a familiar psychological warfare tactic.
The coffins were handed to the International Committee of the Red Cross, then to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which conducted a ceremony honoring the victims. The coffins were then transferred to facilities in Israel where the remains will undergo forensic investigation to confirm the identities of the hostages.
Israelis lined the streets, holding flags and singing their national anthem, Hatikva (“The Hope”), as the procession moved slowly to its destination.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
