Hamas delivered four bodies to the Red Cross in Gaza on Thursday, on the last return of the deceased hostages as part of the Group’s High Fire Agreement with Israel.
Red Cross officials took the custody of four black coffins during a ceremony in the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. A Red Cross official and a Hamas commander appeared on a stage to sign documents as part of the delivery. The coffins were also brought to the stage.
A banner on the stage declared both in Arabic and in English: “The return of the war = the return of their prisoners in coffins.”
In a joint statement, the Israel Defense Security Agency and the Israel Security Agency said that “according to the information communicated by the Red Cross, four coffins of deceased hostages were transferred, and they are taken to the forces of the forces of the FDI and ISA in the Gaza Strip “
Hamas deliver a woman like the bodies of four Israeli hostages to the Red Cross in Gaza, in the hostages in the Tel Aviv Square, Israel, on February 20, 2025.
ODED BALILTTY/AP
An Israeli security officer confirmed to ABC News that a ceremony controlled by the IDF for the four hostages deceased took place in the Gaza damping area controlled by the IDF before the coffins were taken through the border to Israel.
The Israeli prime minister’s office, Benjamin Netanyahu, issued a statement confirming the reception of Israel from the bodies. “The families of the kidnapped have been informed and our hearts are with them at this time,” said the statement.
“The public is asked to respect the privacy of families and refrain from disseminating rumors and information that is not official and well founded,” he added.
A Palestinian militant is close to coffins during the delivery of hostages who died in Khan Younis in southern Gaza Strip, on February 20, 2025.
Ramadán Abed/Reuters
Israel and Hamas have confirmed the names of the four bodies that will be returned to Israel on Thursday: Oded Lifshitz, a journalist and activist of La Paz and Shiri Bibas and their two children: Ariel and Kfir Bibas. Once the bodies return to Israel, Israeli officials will perform forensic analysis to confirm the identities of the bodies.
During the delivery, Hamas issued a statement that said in part: “To the families of Bibas and Lifshitz: we would have preferred their children to return with you alive, but their army and government leaders chose to kill them instead of bringing them back.”
“They killed them: 17,881 Palestinian children, in their criminal bombing of the Gaza Strip, and we know that you know who is really responsible for their departure,” the statement added. “You were the victim of a leadership that your children do not care.”
Kfir Bibas was 8 1/2 months old when he was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, 2023, the youngest of the 251 hostages taken the day when the group carried out its terrorist attack against Israel, the worst in history of the country. . In the following war, more than 48,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza.
This photo proportionate to the Hostage Family Forum shows Shiri Bibas, who was kidnapped and brought to Gaza on October 7, 2023.
HOST FAMILY FORUM THROUGH AP
This photo proportionate to the Hostage Family Forum shows Kfir Bibas, who was kidnapped and brought to Gaza on October 7, 2023.
HOST FAMILY FORUM THROUGH AP
Oded Lifshitz’s wife, andocheBed, was one of the first hostages published during the first high -fire agreement in November 2023. Sixty -nine hostages remain in Gaza after Thursday’s launch.
“At this difficult moment, our hearts are with the afflicted families,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a statement.
The hostage families forum requested the second stage of the High Fire of three stages to continue, saying that “there is no time to lose.” In the second phase of the Alto El Fuego agreement, which should last 42 days, Israel must completely withdraw its forces from the Gaza Strip. Hamas and Israel also agreed to a permanent cessation of all military operations and hostilities before Hamas releases all the remaining Israeli hostages, civilians and soldiers in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
This photo without date provided by the Hostage Family Forum shows Ariel Bibas, who was kidnapped and brought to Gaza on October 7, 2023.
HOST FAMILY FORUM THROUGH AP
This photo provided by the Hostage Family Forum shows the Israeli hostage Oded Lifshitz, who was kidnapped and brought to Gaza on October 7, 2023.
HOST FAMILY FORUM THROUGH AP
“We received the devastating news that Shiri Bibas, his children Ariel and Kfir, and Oded Lifshitz are no longer with us. This news short The world, “the families of the hostages said in a statement on Wednesday.
“We afflicted not only for them, but for the other precious lost lives, including four more deceased hostages that will be returned next week,” host families said.
Six hostages are expected to be launched on Saturday and Israel will be returned to Israel next week. The hostages that will be released on Saturday have been identified as Eliya Cohen, 27; Such shoham, 40; Omer Shem Tov, 22; Omer Wenkrat, 23; Hisham al-Sayed, 36; and Avera Mengistu, 39, according to Israeli officials and hostages and the missing families forum.
The members of the Nijim family hang laundry in the ruins of their house, in the midst of a generalized destruction caused by the land and air offensive of the Israeli army in Jabaliya, Strip Gaza, on February 18, 2025.
JEHAD ALSHRAFI/AP
People walk in the midst of destruction caused by Israeli air and the land offensive in Jabaliya, Strip Gaza, on February 18, 2025.
JEHAD ALSHRAFI/AP
The negotiations to establish the terms for the second phase of the high fire have not begun, but the mediators are pressing so that the conversations begin as soon as possible to allow enough time for the discussion before the second phase begins (it is expected that the First phase last 42 days), Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Tuesday. Hamas has accused Israel of avoiding negotiations and says he is ready to negotiate.
Last week, Hamas threatened not to free the hostages during the weekend, saying that Israel did not maintain its end of the high fire by delaying the return of the Palestinians displaced north of Gaza.
Later, Hamas said the exchange would take place as planned and launched three hostages last Saturday.
Jordana Miller of ABC News contributed to this report.
