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Hamas has handed over the dead bodies of four hostages to Israel under the fragile truce deal on Thursday.
Israel Hamas truce deal (Reuters Image)
Hamas has handed over the bodies of four hostages, who died in the Islamist Palestinian organisation’s captivity, to Israel under the fragile truce deal that has been in place aiming to bring the devastating war in Gaza to an end.
The coffins that were handed over also had the bodies of Bibas family who became the symbols of the ordeal that has gripped Israel since the beginning of the war.
The representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross loaded four coffins into the vehicles.
The return of the bodies, the first by Hamas since its October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, of Shiri Bibas, her two young boys — Kfir and Ariel — and a fourth 83-year-old captive at the time of capture, Oded Lifshitz, took place at a sandy lot that was previously used as a cemetery in Khan Younis in the Gaza city. Hundreds of people gathered to see the transfer take place, to contain whom a fence was put in place.
Ahead of the return, Hamas put four black coffins on a stage for public display with each casket bearing a small picture of the deceased. White mock missiles were placed near the coffins that said, “They were killed by USA bombs”.
Israel Confirms Receiving Bodies
The Israeli military confirmed receiving the bodies of the deceased hostages.
“The hostages’ bodies were handed over to IDF (military) and ISA (security agency) representatives in Gaza”, a military spokesperson said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that Israel had “received the caskets of four fallen hostages”.
Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Deal
The handover of the bodies comes as part of the first six-week phase of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. The truce deal came into effect on January 19 after over 15 months of the war in Gaza that killed over 48,000 people, including civilians, and left several displaced.
Under the first phase of the ceasefire, 19 Israeli hostages have so far been released by Hamas in exchange for over 1,100 Palestinian prisoners in a number of swaps.
Out of the 14 hostages that remain to be released from Gaza under phase one, Israel said that eight have died.
Hamas and its allies held 251 people, hostage, during the October 7 attack that killed 1,211 people, according to AFP. Before today’s handover, there were 70 hostages in Gaza, including the 35 people whom the IDF says are dead.
(With AFP inputs)
