Hamas released the bodies of four Israeli hostages Thursday morning, including the youngest captive in Gaza, who was taken when he was just 9 months old.
The heartbreaking exchange saw the terror group hand over the bodies of Kfir Bibas, along with his brother Ariel, who was taken when he was just 4, their mother Shiri, 33, and Oded Lifshitz, 84.
The bodies of the Bibas family — whose kidnapping video became a symbol for the horrors of Oct. 7 — and Lifshitz are set to be transferred to Israel, where a funeral will be held for them.
The four coffins containing the victims were displayed on stage in front of a disturbing mural depicting a bleeding Netanyahu standing over pictures of the Bibas family and Lifshiftz, alongside a propagandist inscription.
Placed next to the coffins were two missiles with English text reading, ‘They were killed by USA bombs.’
Armed Hamas terrorists and Palestinians in the area had crowded the area in the southern Gaza City of Khan Younis to watch the transfer of the victims.
Each black coffin had a photo of each victim and Netanyahu along with a propaganda message.
Four Hamas terrorists carried each victim over to an awaiting Red Cross vehicle, where workers draped a white sheet over the coffins before placing them in the back of a car.
Shiri Bibas was the first followed by her sons Kfir and Ariel. Lifshitz was the last victim carried over to the trucks.
The exchange ended when the five Red Cross vehicles left the exchange area in Khan Younis just before 10 a.m. Thursday.
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed to The Post the exchange of the bodies were handed over to IDF and ISA representatives in Gaza.
Lifshitz’s son, Yitzhar, was angered by the outcome of the four victims.
“(They) suffered tragic, agonizing deaths, without their families by their sides,” he said, according to the Times of Israel citing Army Radio.
The younger Lifshitz says he will continue to fight for the hostages even though his father’s body was returned to Israel.
“It’s not over for anyone today, even when the end is tragic we continue to pray for the hostages and the fallen who still need to be returned,” he said.
The Bibas family never gave up hope that the ginger-haired Bibas boys would be released alive — even expressing anger at the Israeli government for declaring the children dead before receiving their bodies.
“I believe they’re alive – I personally don’t believe they are dead,” Shiri’s cousin Yosi Shnaider told The Post just a few days before the grim news was confirmed.
The Bibas family has been in turmoil since November 2023, when Hamas released a propaganda video forcing father Yarden Bibas, who was freed earlier this month, to announce the death of his wife and boys.
The heartbroken father Yarden sobbed as he claimed Shiri and the boys were killed in an Israeli airstrike during the most intense bombardments against the Gaza Strip.
Hamas, however, never provided proof that the family was killed by an airstrike, and Israel refused to confirm their deaths until Thursday’s exchange.
Yarden and his family had maintained hope up to the last minute that Hamas was lying about Shiri and their sons, as Hamas has lied about the condition of other hostages in the past.
The Lifshitz family had been prepared for the worst, given that they last received signs of life on Day 25 of the war.
His son, Yizhar, previously told Ynet that the family had received no word on the status of his father since November 2023.
Following Thursday’s release, Hamas is set to free six living hostages on Saturday, as opposed to the agreed-upon three following negotiations for quicker aid to Gaza.
Two of the six hostages set to be freed include Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who were kidnapped in 2014 and 2015, respectively, after crossing into the Palestinian enclave by themselves.
Israel said both men were suffering from mental health issues at the time.
If Saturday’s exchange goes as scheduled, Hamas would then release four more bodies next week to fulfill the first phase of the cease-fire deal, which called for 33 hostages to be freed.
Phase one of the cease-fire ends on March 2, with the second and third phases focused on freeing the remaining 59 hostages and establishing a permanent end to the war.
