Hamas has released the bodies of four Israeli hostages – including a mother and her two children. Six living hostages will be released under the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel at the weekend.
Thursday 20 February 2025 14:27, UK
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Hamas has released the bodies of four Israeli hostages – Shiri Bibas and her two children, four-year-old Ariel and nine-month-old Kfir, and peace activist Oded Lifshitz.
Their coffins were lined up on a stage in Khan Younis before being transferred to the Red Cross.
People were invited to line the streets as a convoy brought their bodies back to Israel before arriving at a forensic institute in Abu Kabir.
There, the bodies will undergo an identification process, which could take up to 48 hours depending on their condition.
No officials are being allowed in the medical centre, which will be working at full capacity to make the process as quick as possible, and families will be the first to get the results.
In a social media post after the bodies were released, Israel’s president Isaac Herzog said asked for forgiveness for not bringing the hostages home alive.
By Freya Gibson and Ben van der Merwe, Data and Forensics team
Since the ceasefire agreement on 19 January, 24 living hostages have been released by Hamas in Gaza on six different days.
We’ve mapped the locations of where these hostage handovers have taken place.
On 30 January and 1 February, hostages were released on the same day but in different locations.
Emily Damari, Doron Steinbrecher and Romi Gonen were the first hostages to be released on 19 January in Gaza City.
This morning’s release, the first of hostage bodies, took place in Khan Younis.
The release of the bodies of four hostages is “the definition of monstrous”, the family of a former hostage has said.
Stephen Brisley’s brother-in-law of Eli Sharabi was freed earlier this month after being held by Hamas since the 7 October attacks.
It was only on Sharabi’s release that he was told his wife and two children had been killed.
Speaking to our presenter Kamali Melbourne about the events witnessed today, Brisley said: “Unfortunately it came as no surprise to me.
“I fully expect Hamas to do as they always do, make political mileage propaganda out of any opportunity that presents itself.”
Turning to the ceasefire deal, Brisley said: “We’re on a knife edge constantly.”
“My fight continues to make sure the deal progresses and it does get through to phases two and three because I want as many families as possible to be able to share with their loved ones the moment I shared with Eli,” he added.
Brisley called on international stakeholders to do “everything they can to make sure all the parties involves progress the deal, make sure we get all the hostages back home and hopefully a lasting peace and stability in the Middle East”.
After the bodies of four Israeli hostages were released by Hamas this morning, six living hostages are expected to be freed on Saturday.
But where are we on the three stages of the ceasefire, and what will be included in future phases?
Phase one
Over the course of six weeks, 33 hostages are to be freed in the first phase of the ceasefire deal, with at least three released each week.
So far, 19 living Israeli hostages have been returned, with six more due to be freed on Saturday.
The Israeli government said last month that it believes only 25 of the 33 hostages due to be released were alive, meaning Saturday’s release will be the last of the remaining live hostages expected in this phase.
In return, Israel will release 737 Palestinian prisoners over the course of the first phase.
Also to be released are 1,167 Palestinians detained in Gaza since the start of the war and held by Israel.
The first phase also includes Israeli troops pulling back into a buffer zone about 0.6 miles wide inside Gaza, along its borders with Israel.
That will allow many displaced Palestinians to return to their homes, including in Gaza City and the largely isolated northern Gaza.
The deal requires 600 truckloads of humanitarian aid to be allowed into Gaza every day of the ceasefire, 50 of them carrying fuel, with 300 of the trucks allocated to the north.
Phase two
Israel and Hamas will begin indirect negotiations on a second phase of the ceasefire deal this week, officials have said.
Negotiations over a second stage are expected to include the release of all remaining hostages, including male Israeli soldiers, a permanent ceasefire and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces.
Israel says it will not agree to a complete withdrawal until Hamas’s military and political capabilities are eliminated, ensuring it can no longer rule.
Hamas refuses to hand over the last Israeli hostages until Israel ends the war and removes all its troops.
Phase three
A third phase is expected to include the return of the bodies of the dead hostages and the beginning of Gaza’s reconstruction.
The bodies of the four Israeli hostages have arrived for identification at a lab in Tel Aviv.
A team of pathologists and laboratory personnel at the Abu Kabir institute in Jaffa will complete the process “as efficiently and respectfully as possible, with the utmost compassion towards the families,” an Israeli health ministry spokesperson said in a statement.
“These are extremely difficult times for the families, and we ask that their privacy be respected,” Shira Solomon added.
The identification process could take up to 48 hours to complete, depending on the condition of the bodies.
The parading of the bodies of four hostages in Gaza has been labelled “cruel” and “inhuman” by the United Nations human rights chief.
The coffins were lined up on a stage in Khan Younis before being transferred over to the Red Cross this morning.
“Under international law, any handover of the remains of the deceased must comply with the prohibition of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, ensuring respect for the dignity of the deceased and their families,” Volker Turk said in a statement.
The UK embassy in Israel has said it shares the country’s “deep heartbreak on this dark day” after the bodies of four hostages were released by Hamas.
In a post on social media site X, the embassy said it is a “stark reminder of the horrors Hamas inflicted on innocent people” on 7 October 2023.
“For over 500 days we hoped for the safe return of all hostages. This hope is broken, but we mustn’t give up on those still held hostage in Gaza.”
Some more pictures coming through to us now, this time showing Israel Defence Forces receiving the coffins of the four hostages.
The coffins, draped in Israeli flags, have been loaded onto vehicles and are now in Israel, where they will be taken to the Abu Kabir forensic institute.
The sadness and grief after the bodies of four hostages were released by Hamas “goes beyond the boundaries of Israel today,” the head of diplomacy at the hostages and missing families forum has said.
Speaking to our presenter Leah Boleto, Daniel Shek said: “We know the stories and realities of most of these hostages and families, but the Bibas family has become a worldwide symbol of the senseless cruelty of this situation.”
Referring to the work the forum does, Shek said the single goal is to “disappear” and to no longer be needed after the return of all hostages.
“There’s a lot of anxiety among the families of those who are included in phase two, which includes a number of dead hostages but also a significant number of live ones,” he added.
Watch the full interview in the video below.
A short while ago, we brought you the update from the Israel Defence Forces confirming a convoy transporting the bodies of four hostages has arrived in Israel (see our 9.59am post).
People stood on the side of the road waving flags as the vehicles drove past.
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