Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement following the return of the bodies of Hamas hostages, vowing to eliminate the terror group.
“Our heart may be broken but our spirit is not,” Netanyahu said in a video message in Hebrew. “And with this spirit: We will return all of our hostages. We will destroy the murderers; we will eliminate Hamas. And together, with God’s help, we will ensure our future.”
On Thursday, Israel received the bodies of Kfir Bibas, Ariel Bibas, and Oded Lifshitz, an elderly man, after the terror group paraded them on stage in front of large, cheering crowds in a propaganda spectacle. The Israel Defense Forces stated that the coffin handed over by Hamas, which they claimed contained the body of Shiri Bibas, actually held the body of an unidentified Gazan woman.
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At Hamas’ ceremony in Khan Yunis, spectators wearing terrorist logos gathered as upbeat music played. The coffins each had a picture of the hostages with a sticker that said “date of arrest October 7 2023.”
On the stage was a picture of the four fallen hostages with an image of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu depicted as a vampire with the text “This War Criminal Netanyahu & His Nazi Army Killed Them with Missiles from Zionist Warplanes.” There was also a missile with a sign in English reading “They were killed by USA bombs.”
“My brothers and sisters, dear citizens of Israel, on this day we are all united, in grief that is too heavy to bear,” Netanyahu said. “Today, every home in Israel bows its head. We bow our heads over the heavy loss of four of our hostages. We all feel pain mixed with rage. We are all outraged at the Hamas monsters.”
During the spectacle, Red Cross representatives signed documents on stage to receive the bodies. The coffins were then transported to the Israeli Defense Forces in the Gaza Strip where they underwent an evaluation by a bomb squad and then were wrapped in Israeli flags.
During their transport to Abu Kabir Forensic Institute in Tel Aviv for identification, somber Israelis gathered in Hostage Square in Tel Aviv and at the institute to await their arrival.
“The four coffins of our dear ones require us, more than ever, to ensure, to swear, that what happened on October 7 never recurs,” Netanyahu added. “The voice of our dear ones’ blood cries out to us from the ground. It requires us to settle accounts with the depraved murderers – and we will settle accounts with them.”
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Lifshitz, 84, was a journalist and peace activist who helped found Kibbutz Nir Oz. He was known for transporting sick Gazans to Israeli hospitals.
His wife, Yocheved Lifshitz, who was also taken hostage but released in the November 2023 deal, said her husband “fought for the Palestinians his whole life; they betrayed him and took him into hell.”
The Lifshitz family received final confirmation that Oded’s body had been identified only hours after he arrived for identification.
“503 agonizing days of uncertainty have come to an end,” the family said in a statement. “We had hoped and prayed so much for a different outcome. Now we can mourn the husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather who has been missing from us since October 7. Our family’s healing process will begin now and will not end until the last hostage is returned.”
The news of the death of 32-year-old Shiri and her two young children has sparked international outrage. Kfir was nine months old when he was kidnapped and Ariel was 4. Footage of Shiri’s terrified face while holding the two redheaded boys went viral after October 7, making the family a symbol of the horror terrorists inflicted on Israeli civilians during the attack.
In November 2023, Hamas forced Shiri’s husband, Yarden Bibas, to record a video announcing the deaths of his wife and kids. Yarden, who was released earlier this month, has reportedly clung to hope that his family is alive.
This article has been updated to reflect that Hamas returned the body of an unidentified Gazan woman, not the body of Shiri Bibas.
