The bodies of 33-year-old Shiri Bibas, her sons — five-year-old Ariel and two-year-old Kfir, as well as 83-year-old Oded Lifshitz, were handed over to representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross in the south of the Gaza Strip, in the Khan Younis area, writes The Jerusalem Post.
The handover of the bodies was accompanied by a propaganda event by Hamas. Militants set up a stage with posters depicting the deceased hostages and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a vampire. Next to the coffins, covered with Israeli flags, were inscriptions: «The war criminal killed them with his fighter jets' missiles» and «Return to war — return of the abducted in coffins».
Present at the handover of the bodies was Palestinian terrorist Muhammad Abu Warda, released from an Israeli prison as part of the current ceasefire agreement regarding hostages, reports KAN. According to Israel's state broadcasting company, Abu Warda was serving 48 life sentences for involvement in terrorist acts in the 1990s, including two bus number 18 bombings that killed 44 people.
Additionally, Arab public pages posted messages from the abductors of the Bibas family, who proudly give interviews.
The Bibas family became a symbol of the tragedy of October 7. A video showing Shiri being taken away with her children by terrorists spread on social media and caused a wave of shock. Later, the Israel Defense Forces press service published another frame with Shiri and the children already in Gaza – this was the last evidence of their whereabouts.
Terrorists took four members of the Bibas family hostage separately: the father, 34-year-old Yarden, was freed from captivity three weeks ago — and only then learned the terrible news that his wife Shiri and two little sons, red-haired Ariel and Kfir, remained in the Gaza Strip, and their fate was unknown. The only indication — a comment from an official IDF representative about «serious concern for their fate».
Shiri's parents, Yossi and Margit Silverman, who also lived in Nir Oz, were killed by terrorists, and their house was burned. The couple's bodies were identified only two weeks later.
At the time of the abduction, Kfir Bibas was 9 months old. Relatives describe him as a cheerful child who often laughs and is very attached to his older brother Ariel. «We were a small but very close-knit family. Ariel — a red-haired rascal, just like his grandfather», — Shiri's sister said. Yarden Bibas's sister Ofri Bibas-Levi said that Kfir's favorite toy was a plush purple elephant. The terrorists abducted him with it. «This elephant — is not just a toy. It symbolizes everything that was stolen from Kfir: his childhood innocence, warm family embraces, and the most basic right — to grow up in safety».
In February 2024, the IDF released new video footage showing Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir being taken to Khan Younis. The footage shows militants forcing Shiri to wrap herself in a sheet, then seating her with the children in a car and taking them away.
The deceased Oded Lifshitz was a well-known journalist and peace activist, one of the founders of Kibbutz Nir Oz. He dedicated his life to helping others, including transporting sick Gaza residents to Israeli hospitals.
Photo: JP, Times of Israel