Hamas to hand over bodies of 4 Israeli hostages allegedly killed in Israeli air strikes

Al-Qassam brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said on Wednesday that it will hand over the bodies of four Israeli hostages, including three members of the Bibas family.

Abu Obeida, the spokesman of al-Qassam, said in a press statement that "the bodies of the Bibas family will be handed over Thursday, in addition to the body of the detained Israeli prisoner Oded Lifshitz."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office identified the hostages as Shiri Bibas, who was kidnapped from her home in the community of Nir Oz near the Gaza border along with her two sons, Kfir, who was nine months old at the time of the kidnapping, and Ariel, who was four years old. Shiri's husband, Yarden Bibas, was also kidnapped but was released in early February as part of a ceasefire deal.

The body of Oded Lifshitz, 84, a retired journalist, will be returned as well. He was kidnapped from his home in Nir Oz along with his wife, Yocheved Lifshitz, who was released by Hamas in October 2023.

"Tomorrow will be a very difficult day for the state of Israel. A shocking day, a day of sorrow. We are bringing home four of our beloved hostages, fallen hostages," said Netanyahu.

"We grieve, we hurt, but we are also determined to ensure that something like this will never happen again," he added.

The four were among 251 people kidnapped in the Hamas-led attack on Israeli communities on October 7, 2023.

Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the groups that held them in Gaza, claimed they were killed in Israeli airstrikes on the territory.

As part of the first phase of a ceasefire agreement that took effect on January 19, Israel is expected to release Palestinian women and minors held in Israeli jails in exchange for the return of the bodies.