Tel Aviv, Israel (AP) – The remains of the youngest and one of the oldest prisoners seized by Hamas during the attack that the war has ignited in the Gaza Strip is expected to be sent back on Thursday, said an Israeli official Wednesday.
The transfer, part of the Stakten -the -furen Agreement that the fighting in Gaza has paused, will include the bodies of a mother and her two young children whose destiny was uncertain and a retired journalist in the 1980s, said the official who spoke to Condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
It was the first Israeli confirmation that the bodies of Ariel and Kfir Bibas, who were 4 years old and were 9 months old when they were imprisoned on October 7, 2023, were returned together with their mother Shiri. A basic forum that represents hostages also confirmed the names.
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For many Israelis, the family came to symbolize the plight of those who are taken prisoner. The fate of the Bibas mother and boys was unclear for a large part of the war, and the family released a statement on Wednesday in which he asked Israelis to wait for forensic identification of the remains before “our loved ones”.
The body of Oded Lifshitz, which was 83 when he was abducted, will also be returned, the official said.
“The heart of a whole nation breaks,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday.
Hamas said that all four have been killed in Israeli air strikes, while Israel had said earlier that it had “serious concern” for the life of the Bibas family.
A top official from Hamas announced earlier this week that the militant group will return the four bodies and return six living Israeli hostages on Saturday in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners during the first phase of the ceases -the fires.
The first phase of the deal asks for Hamas to gradually spend 33 hostages, of whom eight is considered dead.
Until now, the return of 19 living Israeli hostages has been celebrated throughout the country, but the transfer of the bodies on Thursday will certainly be confronted with a gloomy tone.
Hamas leader Khalil Al-Hayya said on Tuesday that the dead would include the 'Bibas family'.
The Bibas family was held hostage from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023. Their plus state fascinated Israelis who saw an embodiment of the brutality of Hamas' attack in them. Yarden Bibas, the husband and father, was freed from captivity earlier this month.
Lifshitz, who spent his life with fighting for Arab rights, was one of the oldest hostages taken Hamas. His daughter, a London -based artist, said in January that she was holding the hope that he would survive but also prepared for the worst.
“These are difficult hours for us, after we have been informed that our beloved Oded is one of the deceased hostages who will be returned,” his family said in a statement. “We had hoped and prayed for a different result for 502 days. However, until we receive absolute certainty, our journey is not over and even then we will continue to fight until the last hostage has been sent back. “
As a journalist, Lifshitz campaigned for the recognition of Palestinian rights and peace between Arabs and Jews. In his later years he drove Palestinians to medical appointments in Israel as part of a group on the way to recovery.
The release of the six living hostages on Saturday would be an acceleration of the cease -the proof. Israel is expected to continue to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including many lifelong penalties for fatal attacks. During the first phase, Israel is also due to all the women and children who are seized from Gaza since the war began.
