Hamas Hands Bodies of 4 Hostages Back to Israel

Hamas said on Thursday it had handed over the bodies of four Israelis abducted during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel — including a woman and her two young children — in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

Large crowds had gathered near the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis to watch the choreographed handoff staged by Hamas. Rifle-toting gunmen were deployed around a stage on which four black coffins — each bearing the image of a deceased hostage — had been placed.

Officials with the International Committee for the Red Cross placed the coffins in waiting white vehicles. The Israeli government later confirmed that the Red Cross had brought them to waiting Israeli forces inside Gaza.

Miles away, Israelis watched the scene in horror and dismay.

The four dead hostages had been identified by Hamas as Shiri Bibas, 32, her redheaded young children Ariel, 4, and Kfir, nine months old; and Oded Lifshitz, 84. The bodies are expected to undergo forensic testing in Israel to confirm their identities.

All four were abducted during the Oct. 7 attack in which roughly 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage, according to Israel. For many Israelis, the deliberate abduction of Ms. Bibas and her children epitomized the viciousness of the assault.

Israel’s relentless campaign against Hamas in Gaza quickly followed, killing tens of thousands of Palestinians and leaving much of the enclave in ruins.

It was not immediately clear how the four hostages had died, although Hamas has said they were killed in Israeli airstrikes. Israeli officials have yet to confirm the cause of death.

In late January, Israel and Hamas reached an agreement to stop the fighting for at least six weeks. Hamas agreed to turn over 25 living Israeli hostages and the bodies of eight others in exchange for more than 1,500 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Since then, Israelis and Palestinians have witnessed emotional homecomings — hostages reuniting with their families after a terrifying year in Hamas’s underground tunnel network — as returning Palestinian prisoners have embraced loved ones outside of prison for the first time in decades.

Hamas has used the hostage releases to hold elaborate ceremonies demonstrating its dominance in Gaza, deploying dozens of well-organized gunmen and occasionally forcing hostages being freed to give speeches from makeshift stages.

Rawan Sheikh Ahmad contributed reporting from Haifa, Israel.