"A short while ago, IDF and ISA troops brought the coffins of four deceased hostages across the border into Israel and are being taken to the National Institute of Forensic Medicine, where they will undergo identification procedures. IDF representatives are accompanying their families at this difficult time," the IDF and ISA said in a joint statement.
Office of the Prime Minister of Israel He told: "Israel - through the Red Cross - received the coffins of four deceased hostages. The coffins have been handed over to the IDF and ISA unit inside the Gaza Strip, from where they will be transferred to Israel, to the Ministry of Health's National Center for Forensic Medicine. The families will be officially notified once the identification process is completed.
The families of the hostages have been informed; we are with them at this difficult time.
We ask the public to respect the privacy of the families and refrain from spreading rumours and anecdotal and unsubstantiated information.
We will continue to provide up-to-date and reliable information where necessary."
Israeli media and Al-Jazeera television did not broadcast today's handover out of respect for the dead hostages, the Times of Israel (ToI) only posted a link on its website to youtube.
Israel National News offers "live tracking". Already previously gave more details.
On Thursday, Hamas released the bodies of four dead Israeli hostages, reportedly including the Bibas family - a mother and her two children whose deaths had long been feared.
The militants displayed four black coffins surrounded by banners on the stage, including a large one depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a vampire, and then handed the coffins to Red Cross vehicles.
Hamas identified the bodies as Shiri Bibas and her two children, Ariel and Kfir, as well as Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 years old at the time of the abduction.
All three were captured at Kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel when Hamas fighters launched an attack on 7 October 2023.
Kfir, who was 9 months old at the time of his capture, was the youngest hostage taken in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli authorities will now confirm the identity of the victims using DNA, which should take up to two days.
The Israeli Forum for Hostages and Families of the Missing, which represents the families of the captives, said Wednesday that it had received "devastating news" that the Bibas family was among four dead hostages to be released.
"It is with great sadness that we received the news of the return of Shiri, Kfir and Ariel Bibas, along with Oded Lifshitz, who were taken alive and will return to their eternal rest in Israel," relatives of the Bibas family said in a statement on Wednesday that they would wait for the 'identification procedure' before acknowledging that their loved ones were dead.
Shortly before the hostages were released, Hamas said in a statement that four hostages had been killed in Israeli strikes.
The group says it did "everything in (its) power to protect the hostages" and "save their lives".
In the 7 October attack, which also killed some 1 200 people, mostly civilians, Hamas-led gunmen took 251 hostages, including 30 children.
More than half of the hostages were released under ceasefire or other agreements. Israeli forces rescued eight and recovered the bodies of dozens of hostages who died in the first attack or in captivity.
In recent weeks, 24 surviving hostages have been released as part of the first phase of a tenuous ceasefire that has broken 15 months of fighting between Israel and Hamas.
On Saturday, Hamas is due to release six living hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. The militant group also said it would release four dead next week, completing the first phase of the ceasefire.
Approximately 60 hostages remain in Gaza, mostly men, about half of whom are believed to be dead. Hamas has stated that it will not release them without a permanent ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal.
Netanyahu, for his part, said he was determined to destroy Hamas' military and governmental capabilities and return all hostages.
euronews/ gnews.cz - RoZ
PHOTO - X
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