'Our hearts lie in tatters': Israel in mourning as coffins of four hostages returned after sick Hamas parade
20 February 2025, 07:26 | Updated: 20 February 2025, 11:19
The bodies of four Israeli hostages who were taken by Hamas during the October the 7th attack have returned home, leaving a nation in mourning.
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The remains of Shiri Bibas and her two children, as well as the body of 84-year-old Oded Lifschitz, were handed over to the Red Cross on Thursday, with the remains then set to be handed to Israel.
Baby Kfir was just nine months old when he was taken by Hamas, making him the youngest hostage held by the group.
Taken alongside his mother Shiri, and then-four-year-old brother Ariel, all three died in what Hamas claimed to be an Israeli airstrike.
Shiri's husband, Yarden Bibas, was the only family member to survive at the hands of the terrorist group. Kidnapped on October 7, Yarden was held separately from his family and released after 16 months in captivity last week.
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Israel's President, Isaac Herzog, took to X on Thursday to say: "Agony. Pain. There are no words."
"Our hearts - the hearts of an entire nation - lie in tatters."
The body of Oded Lifshitz, a retired journalist who was aged 83 when he and his wife were taken from their home in Nir Oz, is thought to be the fourth body to be returned.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office confirmed on Thursday that the families of the hostages had been informed of their relatives' return.
It added: "Our hearts go out to them at this difficult time."
The Red Cross convoy was seen to cross into Israel on Thursday morning following a staged handover set up by Hamas in front of a large image of the Israeli President dripping with blood.
The exchange took place in Khan Younis, with masked Hamas gunmen lining the streets as crowds watched on.
The bodies were passed to the charity just before 10am local time, as the Gaza ceasefire deal continues to hold.
The masked Hamas gunmen surrounded the stage ahead of the handover, with green flags waving around the square.
Members of the group then accompanied the Red Cross convoy as it departed the area with the hostages' remains.
Benjamin Netanyahu says the "heart of an entire nation breaks" following their deaths of the four dead hostages.
Marking a day of mourning across the country, Israelis are expected to line the streets from the Kerem Shalom Crossing on Gaza's border to Abu Kabir.
The bodies are set to be taken to a forensic laboratory in Israel before being released to the families.
It was announced on Tuesday that the Bibas family and Mr Lifshitz had died while being held by Hamas.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said news of their deaths was “heart-shattering”.
It comes as Israel’s ambassador to the UK made an official complaint to BBC bosses asking how a child with alleged family ties to Hamas was allowed to be the focus of a documentary about the lives of ordinary Palestinians.
Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone was broadcast on Monday evening, depicting a "vivid and unflinching view of life" in Gaza, according to documentary makers.
The raw and often graphic documentary featured multiple accounts of the conflict, with the hour-long film showing the devastation of Gaza through the eyes of three young Palestinian children in the region.
Investigative journalist David Collier has claimed that one of the child narrators featured in the documentary, 14-year-old Abdullah, is in fact the son of a Hamas government minister and grandson of one of Hamas' founders.
