In Grotesque Spectacle, Hamas Hands Over Caskets Said to Include Hostage Shiri Bibas and Her Two Children
Hamas on Wednesday handed over caskets apparently containing the remain of four Israeli hostages, identifying them as three members of the Bibas family: 33-year-old Shiri and her two little boys, Ariel (five-year-old ) and Kfir (nine-months-old); along with 83-year-old Oded Lifshitz.
“Israel has received, through the Red Cross, the coffins of four deceased hostages, the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed,” the Israeli news website YNET reported. “The coffins were handed over to the IDF and Shin Bet forces, inside the Gaza Strip, from where they will be transferred to Israel to the Ministry of Health’s National Center for Forensic Medicine.”
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) acknowledged the release of bodies by the Gaza-based terrorist group, but did not name the supposedly dead hostages. “According to information communicated by the Red Cross, four caskets of deceased hostages were transferred to them, and they are being taken to IDF and ISA (Israel Security Agency) forces in the Gaza Strip,” the military said in a press release Wednesday morning.
While the remains handed over by the Gaza terrorists are yet to be identified, the news of the returning bodies led to a nationwide mourning.
“Dozens of residents of Kibbutz Nir Oz gathered under the pouring rain at Struggle Square in Kiryat Gat’s Karmei Gat neighborhood Thursday morning with sadness in their eyes,” the Jerusalem Post reported.” Though they have not talked about the murdered hostages being returned to Israel from Gaza until they are positively identified, the sense of sadness is felt everywhere.”
Israel’s Health Ministry: Identifying the bodies “likely to take some time”
The hostages families urged media outlets to exercise caution before rushing to conclusions about the fate of particularly captives. “The Bibas family indicated it would hold out until the remains are definitively identified,” the Israeli TV channel i24NEWS reported.
Depending the condition of the remains of the bodies, establishing the identity of the hostages could take days, an Israeli official said. “Health Minister Uriel Busso says that the process of identifying the bodies later today at the Abu Kabir forensic institute will be conducted carefully and is likely to take some time,” The Times of Israel reported citing Hebrew-language media. “He explains that the process is intended not only to identify the hostages but also to establish the cause of death, if possible.”
On the morning of October 7, 2023, Shiri and her two little re-haired boys, Ariel (four-year-old) and Kfir (barely nine-month-old), were abducted at gunpoint by Hamas terrorists from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz.
“The video of Shiri trying to protect her two children with her hands, terror on her face as she was surrounded by many brutal terrorists, became a symbol of the kidnapping and haunted many mothers and everyone else,” the Israel Hayom newspaper recalled.
The children’s father, Yarden, gave himself up to Hamas in a desperate bid to save his wife and kids. An emaciated and broken Yarden was released earlier this month as part of the ongoing hostages-for-terrorist swap.
“Shiri (33) was seen in a video recorded on the day she was captured, surrounded by terrorists while holding Ariel (5) and Kfir, who was nine months old at the time they were abducted. The children were the youngest captives,” the i24NEWS noted. “The family’s father, Yarden, was kidnapped separately from them and released about three weeks ago.”
Oded Lifshitz, an 83-year-old peace activist, was abducted from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz alongside his wife Yocheved. “Lifshitz and his wife Yocheved were taken hostage separately from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz on the morning of the October 7 onslaught,” The Times of Israel reported. “Yocheved was freed on October 23, 2023, along with fellow captive Nurit Cooper, and was not held with Oded while in Gaza.”
Hamas, as during the recent hostage releases, organized a macabre ceremony for the handover of the bodies. A special stage was set up for the grotesque transfer. Dozens of masked Hamas terrorists, dressed in military fatigues, were spotted with their handheld cameras filming four black caskets as Islamic songs blared from the loudspeakers. It looked like a cheerful event for the people of Gaza, who brought their children to witness the depraved display.
“Hamas built a stage east of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday ahead of the release of the four slain hostages, Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas, as well as Oded Lifshitz,” the Jerusalem Post observed. “On the backdrop of the stage was a banner in which the photos of Lifshitz, Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas appeared. Above them was an image of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu depicted as a vampire.”
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