In a significant development, Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, announced on Wednesday the forthcoming release of the bodies of four Israeli hostages. Among those to be returned are three members of the Bibas family.
Abu Obeida, spokesperson for Al-Qassam, stated that \"the bodies of the Bibas family will be handed over Thursday, in addition to the body of the detained Israeli prisoner Oded Lifshitz.\"
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office confirmed the identities of the hostages as Shiri Bibas, who was abducted from her home in Nir Oz near the Gaza border, along with her two sons, Kfir (nine months old at the time) and Ariel (four years old). Shiri's husband, Yarden Bibas, was also kidnapped but was released in early February as part of a ceasefire agreement.
Additionally, the body of Oded Lifshitz, an 84-year-old retired journalist, will be returned. He was taken from his Nir Oz home alongside his wife, Yocheved Lifshitz, who was released by Hamas in October 2023.
\"Tomorrow will be a very difficult day for the state of Israel. A shocking day, a day of sorrow. We are bringing home four of our beloved hostages, fallen hostages,\" Netanyahu stated.
\"We grieve, we hurt, but we are also determined to ensure that something like this will never happen again,\" he added.
The four individuals were part of the 251 hostages taken during the Hamas-led attacks on Israeli communities on October 7, 2023. Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the groups responsible for holding them in Gaza, have claimed that the hostages were killed in Israeli airstrikes.
As part of the first phase of a ceasefire agreement effective January 19, Israel is expected to release Palestinian women and minors held in Israeli prisons in exchange for the return of the bodies.
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
