Hamas handed over the remains of four Israeli hostages to the Red Cross in Khan Younis, Gaza on Thursday.
The bodies are said to include Shiri Bibas, 32, and her two children, Ariel, 4, and Kfir, 9 months, as well as Oded Lifshitz, 83.
All four were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
Prior to the handover, Hamas displayed four black coffins on a stage adorned with propaganda slogans in Arabic, Hebrew, and English.
A Red Cross representative signed paperwork before the coffins were transferred to Red Cross vehicles.
White screens were erected to shield the coffins from public view as they were loaded, while hundreds of militants and onlookers assembled at the location. The Red Cross convoy then headed back to Israel.
As reported, the bodies will undergo forensic examination in Israel to verify their identities. A military ceremony led by IDF Chief Rabbi Brig. Gen. Eyal Karim will be held before the bodies are taken to the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute for identification. The identification process could take up to 48 hours.
Hamas has said that the four hostages were killed in Israeli airstrikes. The Mujahideen Brigades, a minor Palestinian militant group in Gaza, claimed they had kept Shiri Bibas and her children alive until they were killed in an Israeli airstrike in late November 2023.
In return for the bodies, Israel is expected to release over 600 Palestinian prisoners as part of the fragile ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
Hamas has also agreed to release the six remaining living Israeli hostages it had committed to freeing by the end of February. Furthermore, Hamas plans to return four additional bodies of hostages next week.
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