The bodies of Oded Lifshitz and Kfir and Ariel Bibas – who were taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7 – were released and brought home to Israel on Thursday, 503 days after they were kidnapped.
Hamas handed over another body that was supposed to be Shiri Bibas, but forensics found that the body wasn’t Shiri’s nor did it match any of the other hostages, a blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement. Hamas later claimed that they may have “made a mistake” and insisted they were investigating the issue.
The fate of Shiri, Kfir, and Ariel was uncertain until earlier this week. Forensic examinations and intelligence collected by the IDF found that Kfir and Ariel were murdered by terrorists just weeks after the October 7th attacks.
IDF Spokesperson Daniel Hagari announced on Friday that “In contradiction to the lies of Hamas, they weren’t killed by an airstrike. Kfir, the baby, and Ariel, just four years old, were murdered in cold blood. The terrorists didn’t murder them by shooting, they murdered them with their bare hands. Afterwards, they carried out unspeakable acts to try and cover up the atrocities they committed.”
Hagari added that Israel has transferred the forensic evidence and intelligence information to Israel’s partners around the world so that they could confirm this information independently and show the world the atrocities Hamas committed.
Kfir and Ariel were the youngest hostages taken on Oct. 7, quickly becoming symbols of the plight of the hostages. Kfir was just nine months old during the attacks; Ariel was four years old. Shiri’s husband and the boys’ father, Yarden Bibas, was released alive at the beginning of February.
Hamas holds horrific “ceremony” at handover point
In a cruel display, Hamas placed the bodies of the Bibas brothers and Lifshitz on a stage with anti-Israel slogans and bombs on display before handing them over to the Red Cross. The terrorist group played festive music at the handover as well. Hamas also transferred the bodies in locked coffins with keys that did not match the locks, according to KAN.
After the IDF received the released hostages, a small memorial ceremony was held within the Gaza Strip with the IDF Chief Rabbi, Eyal Karim, and the bodies were transferred to coffins wrapped in Israeli flags.
From there, the bodies were brought to the Abu Kabir National Center for Forensic Medicine in Israel, where they underwent the identification process to ensure that Hamas returned the correct bodies. The center confirmed later on Thursday that three of the bodies were Lifshitz, Ariel, and Kfir. The IDF said that the fourth casket — that had “Arrested on October 7” written on it — contained an “anonymous, unidentified body” that was not Shiri.
In a message to the mediators, Israel expressed outrage at the horrific event set up by Hamas.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called Hamas’ parading of the bodies of the hostages “abhorrent,” stressing that it flies in the face of international law.
“Under international law, any handover of the remains of the deceased must comply with the prohibition of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, ensuring respect for the dignity of the deceased and their families”, Turk said in a statement to the press. The statement was not shared on his social media or the website of the U.N. Human Rights Office.
On Wednesday, ahead of the release, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) stressed that “any degrading treatment during release operations is unacceptable.”
“We have repeatedly urged both publicly and privately to those with the responsibility and the authority over these releases, and those with influence on them, to ensure that they are conducted with privacy, respect, and care. This must happen in future release operations,” the Red Cross said.
“There are no words”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the nation after the bodies were returned, saying “On this day we are all united, in grief that is too heavy to bear.”
“Today, every home in Israel bows its head. We bow our heads over the heavy loss of four of our hostages. We all feel pain mixed with rage. We are all outraged at the Hamas monsters,” the prime minister said.
“The four coffins of our dear ones require us, more than ever, to ensure, to swear, that what happened on October 7 never recurs,” Netanyahu added. “Our heart may be broken but our spirit is not. And with this spirit: We will return all of our hostages. We will destroy the murderers; we will eliminate Hamas. And together, with G-d’s help, we will ensure our future.”
“Agony. Pain. There are no words,” Israeli President Isaac Herzog said on Thursday.
“Our hearts — the hearts of an entire nation — lie in tatters. On behalf of the State of Israel, I bow my head and ask for forgiveness. Forgiveness for not protecting you on that terrible day. Forgiveness for not bringing you home safely. May their memory be a blessing.”
Oded Lifshitz was treated especially cruelly by his captors
Lifshitz, a peace activist and journalist, was murdered in captivity by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group over a year ago, the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed on Thursday.
Hostages who were held alongside Lifshitz said that he was treated especially cruelly by his captors and was beaten. At a certain point, he was feeling unwell and was moved from the main location he was being held in up until that point. From then, Israel received no further signs of life of Lifshitz.
Part of the work at the Abu Kabir Center is focused on figuring out how Lifshitz was killed.
“My father was murdered when they broke into the shelter, shot him in the hands, and abused him on the way to Gaza. We know he was alive for two or three weeks, but when he was wounded, bruised, and suffering from health problems in an apartment in Khan Yunis — he had no chance of surviving, they murdered him there,” Lifshitz’s son, Yizhar, told Channel 12.
Yizhar told KAN on Thursday that his father “believed that Israel should be a peace-loving state. He worked for social justice and was a wonderful father. It’s a tragic ending, but the bottom line is that the State of Israel redeems its captives, and until the last one returns, it’s not over.”
After Lifshitz’s body was received in Israel on Thursday, his family stated that “503 agonizing days of uncertainty have come to an end. We so hoped and prayed that our ending would be different. Now we can mourn the husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather we have been missing since October 7th. The rebuilding of our family will begin now and will not end until the last hostage is returned.”
Lifshitz was also one of the founders of Kibbutz Nir Oz, where he was kidnapped on Oct. 7 with his wife Yocheved, who was released by Hamas 16 days later.
He “dedicated his life to his family, social work, journalism, promoting minority rights and the struggle to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” Kibbutz Nir Oz said. “The cactus garden that Oded and Yocheved cultivated throughout their 63 years of marriage remains a living testament to their dedication and the home they built together. Oded left behind four children: Arnon, Yizhar, Sharon and Omri, many family and friends, who will always remember him as a lover of people and the country, a man of culture and peace.”
Six living hostages to be released on Saturday
Six living hostages will be released on Saturday, including Hisham Al-Sayed, Avera Mengistu, Omer Shem-Tov, Eliya Cohen, Tal Shoham, and Omer Wenkert. The bodies of four more hostages will be released next week, bringing an end to the first phase of the ceasefire.
Last Saturday, Sagui Dekel-Chen, Yair Horn, and Sasha Troufanov were released after 491 days in Hamas captivity.
After the first phase of the deal is completed on Saturday, March 1, there will still be 59 Israeli hostages in Gaza, 28 of whom are no longer alive.
Talks concerning the next phase of the agreement are set to begin within the next week.
Israel’s conditions for phase two of the deal include the removal of Hamas from Gaza and the disarmament of the Strip, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar told journalists this week.
U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff expressed confidence that “phase two is absolutely going to begin” in an interview with Fox News this week.
Witkoff emphasized that phase two needs to include both an end to the war and toHamas’ governance of Gaza.
Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem told the Saudi Al Arabiya network this week that the terrorist group will not insist on being part of the government of Gaza after the war, although he added that Hamas has “every right to remain part of the Palestinian political landscape.”
Qassem added as well that any move to remove Hamas from Gaza or to force them to disarm would be “unacceptable.”
Originally Published Feb 20, 2025 10:25PM EST
