Hamas to Hand Bodies of 4 Hostages Back to Israel

Hamas fighters were expected on Thursday to hand over the bodies of four Israelis who had been abducted during the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack, including a woman and her two young children, in exchange for Palestinians jailed by Israel.

Large crowds gathered in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis to observe the exchange, amid triumphant music. Palestinian gunmen were deployed around a stage on which four coffins had been placed.

Miles away, Israelis watched in horror. The four dead hostages were named as Shiri Bibas, 32, and her redheaded young children Ariel, 4, and Kfir, nine months old, as well as Oded Lifshitz, 84.

All four were abducted during the Oct. 7 attack in which roughly 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage, according to Israel. For many Israelis, the deliberate abduction of Ms. Bibas and her children epitomized the viciousness of the attackers.

It was not immediately clear how they had died, although Hamas has said they were killed in Israeli airstrikes. Israeli officials have yet to confirm the cause of death.

Israel’s relentless campaign against Hamas in Gaza quickly followed, killing tens of thousands of Palestinians and leaving much of the enclave in ruins.

In late January, Israel and Hamas reached an agreement to stop the fighting for at least six weeks. Hamas agreed to turn over 25 living Israeli hostages and the bodies of eight others in exchange for more than 1,500 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Since then, Israelis and Palestinians have witnessed emotional homecomings — hostages reuniting with their families after a terrifying year in Hamas’s underground tunnel network — as returning Palestinian prisoners have embraced loved ones outside of prison for the first time in decades.

Hamas has used the hostage releases to hold elaborate ceremonies demonstrating its dominance in Gaza, deploying dozens of well-organized gunmen and occasionally forcing hostages being freed to give speeches from makeshift stages.

Rawan Sheikh Ahmad contributed reporting from Haifa, Israel.