The bodies of an Israeli man, 83, and a woman who was taken captive in the October 2023 attack have been released.
The bodies were handed over to the ICRC in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on Thursday. One by one, four men took the four coffins from the stage to the Red Cross vehicles.
The four Israelis whose bodies were released were depicted on a large poster that served as the stage’s backdrop, with blood and fangs on the faces of the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Four people were alive before the “Zionist occupation aircraft deliberately bombed the locations where they were being held,” according to a spokesperson for the Palestinian organization.
Hamas said in a statement it “preserved the lives of the occupation prisoners”, provided them with what it could, and “treated them humanely, but their]Israel’s] army killed them along with their captors”.
In a blatant attempt to hide the death of his prisoners in front of his audience, “Criminal Netanyahu is crying today over the bodies of his prisoners who returned to him in coffins,” Hamas said.
It stated to the families of the Israeli captives who had been killed that “we would have preferred your sons to return to you alive, but your army and government leaders chose to kill them rather than bring them back.”
The Hamas-Israeli ceasefire agreement, which also includes the release of hundreds of Palestinians from Israeli jails where many of them have been detained without being charged or tried, includes the return of the bodies.
A Palestinian group said Israel is withholding the remains of at least 665 Palestinians, including several killed in the 1960s and 1970s.
According to Tareq Abu Azzoum of Al Jazeera, Khan Younis’ reporting from the site was “a significant site for Israeli ground forces during the military operations in the city.”
“The preparations began in the morning.” He continued, “There are masked fighters with green bands on their heads who are armed with rifles and carry various signs with slogans.” The stage was well-prepared with three main banners. One of them discusses the crimes the Israeli forces committed while conducting their operations in Gaza.
Symbol of “Israeli stupidity.”
The bodies that have been handed over included Israeli infant Kfir Bibas, his four-year-old brother Ariel, their mother Shiri Bibas, and a fourth captive, Oded Lifschitz.
The return of the bodies, according to author and political analyst Akiva Eldar of Israel, is a “very sad day for all of us.”
” These babies became the symbol of I would say Israeli stupidity, fool attitude of the Israeli government, “Eldar told Al Jazeera from Tel Aviv.
He claimed that Netanyahu is aware of the Israeli prisoners’ conditions.
” But he has other priorities, “said Eldar. It’s a game between Netanyahu and the families who are hoping to bring their loved ones back home and who want to keep his government as long as possible, to spend more time with the electorate, who supports the radical right, who thinks that people’s lives are more precious than their own lives.
An army rabbi will preside over a brief ceremony following the handover, where the remains will be lowered into coffins. The national forensic institute will then be contacted in Israel so that they can be identified, a procedure that might take a few hours or even a few days.
Only after their deaths and funerals have been identified will there be a formal announcement.
Six living captives will be returned on Saturday for the funeral of the bodies in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians, who are reportedly women and minors detained by Israeli forces in Gaza during the war.
In the first phase of a deal meant to pave the way for the end of the war, Hamas agreed to release 33 prisoners in exchange for nearly 2, 000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
So far, 19 Israeli captives have been released, as well as five Thais who were returned in an unscheduled handover.
In the upcoming days, negotiations for a second phase, which are expected to cover the release of about 60 captives, of which less than half are said to be alive, and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, are scheduled to start.
Source: Aljazeera
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