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Hamas to Return Bodies of Israeli Hostages, Including Bibas Family
Hamas has announced plans to hand over the bodies of Israeli hostages, including members of the Bibas family, as part of ongoing negotiations.
Hamas is preparing to transfer the bodies of four hostages on Thursday, including members of the Bibas family, whose tragic story has come to symbolize the ongoing hostage crisis following the Gaza war. The victims include Shiri Bibas, her two young sons, Kfir and Ariel, and a fourth captive, Oded Lifshitz. This marks the first official handover of remains by Hamas since its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which escalated the conflict. The transfer is scheduled to take place in Khan Yunis, located in southern Gaza.
The abduction of the Bibas family became one of the most haunting images of the crisis after footage, filmed and broadcast by Hamas militants during their attack, showed Shiri and her sons—Ariel, then four years old, and Kfir, just nine months old—being forcibly taken from their home near the Gaza border. Yarden Bibas, the boys’ father and Shiri’s husband, was abducted separately on the same day but was released during a previous hostage-prisoner exchange on February 1.
The repatriation of the Bibas family’s bodies is part of the first phase of a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which took effect on January 19 after more than 15 months of intense fighting in the Gaza Strip. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Thursday as “a very difficult day for the State of Israel—a heartbreaking day, a day of grief.” Under the ceasefire’s first phase, 19 Israeli hostages have been released by militants in exchange for over 1,100 Palestinian prisoners through a series of Red Cross-mediated swaps. Of the remaining 14 Gaza hostages eligible for release under this phase, Israel has confirmed that eight are deceased.
The Bibas family has become a national symbol of the hostage crisis, embodying the anguish and despair that has gripped Israel since the October 7 attack. While Hamas has claimed that the family members were killed in an Israeli airstrike early in the war, Israel has not officially confirmed their deaths, leaving many, including the Bibas family, unconvinced. On Wednesday, the Israeli campaign group Hostages and Missing Families Forum announced it had received “heart-shattering” news about the deaths of the three Bibas family members. However, the family stated it would await official confirmation, emphasizing that any devastating news must come through proper channels after all identification procedures are completed.
Israeli authorities have not yet officially named the individuals whose remains are to be returned, but Netanyahu’s office confirmed on Wednesday that it had received a list of the hostages to be handed over and that their families had been notified. The National Forensic Medicine Institute in Tel Aviv has mobilized 10 doctors to expedite the identification process, according to public broadcaster Kan.
The ceasefire agreement, announced earlier this week, includes the return of the remains of eight hostages in two groups this week and next, as well as the release of six living Israeli captives on Saturday. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum identified the six as Eliya Cohen, Tal Shoham, Omer Shem Tov, Omer Wenkert, Hisham al-Sayed, and Avera Mengistu. Despite accusations of violations from both sides, the ceasefire has largely held.
Looking ahead, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar stated that talks on the second phase of the ceasefire would begin “this week,” aiming to establish a more permanent resolution to the conflict. Senior Hamas official Taher al-Nunu indicated that Hamas is prepared to release all remaining hostages in a single swap during phase two, though he did not specify how many hostages are currently held by Hamas or other militant groups.
The October 7 attack by Hamas and its allies resulted in the abduction of 251 people, of whom 70 remain in Gaza, including 35 whom the Israeli military has declared dead. The attack also claimed the lives of 1,211 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures. In response, Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 48,297 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, based on figures from the Hamas-run health ministry, which the United Nations considers reliable.
As the fragile ceasefire holds and negotiations for the next phase begin, the return of the Bibas family’s remains serves as a poignant reminder of the human cost of the conflict and the urgent need for a lasting resolution. The tragedy of the Bibas family has not only deepened the grief of a nation but also underscored the complexities and challenges of achieving peace in a region long plagued by violence and division.
