Hamas handed over on Thursday what it said were the remains of four Israeli hostages abducted during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, including a woman and her two young children whom Israelis saw as symbols of the viciousness of the Hamas assault.
Crowds of Palestinians gathered near the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis to watch the theatrical handoff staged by Hamas: four coffins were placed on a stage with a banner featuring a cartoonish, vampiric picture of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister. Triumphant music thumped in the background.
Miles away, Israelis watched the scene unfold in horror and anguish, a sharp contrast to the catharsis evoked by the recent releases of hostages who had survived their ordeal. Israel’s leaders had vowed to topple Hamas and bring home the roughly 250 hostages the militant group and its allies abducted during the 2023 attack.
But Mr. Netanyahu has also been criticized by many Israelis for not agreeing to a cease-fire sooner that might have saved some of the captives who died in Gaza. And Hamas’s shows of force during the exchanges over the past few weeks have also demonstrated that the group is very much still in power.
Israel and Hamas are now in the final weeks of a 42-day cease-fire that began in mid-January. As part of the truce, Hamas agreed to turn over 25 living Israeli hostages and the bodies of eight others in exchange for more than 1,500 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
In exchange for the bodies, Israel is expected to free women and minors from Gaza who were detained during the war, generally without formal charges.
Two Israeli officials said the detainees were scheduled to be freed on Saturday, in part to allow time for Israel to conduct forensic testing and identify the bodies. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.
On Thursday, as rain trickled down in Gaza, officials with the International Committee of the Red Cross — which has served as the go-between during the exchanges — placed the four coffins in white vehicles. Israel later confirmed that they had brought the boxes to Israeli forces.
Hamas identified the four as Shiri Bibas and her children, Ariel and Kfir, and Oded Lifshitz. When they were captured, Ms. Bibas was 32, Ariel was 4 and Kfir was 9 months old; Mr. Lifshitz was 83. All four were abducted during the Hamas-led surprise attack that Oct. 7 — the deadliest day in Israeli history — in which roughly 1,200 people were killed.
Israel’s relentless campaign against Hamas in Gaza quickly followed, killing tens of thousands of Palestinians and leaving much of the enclave in ruins. Hamas has said that the four hostages were also killed in Israeli airstrikes, which Israeli officials have yet to confirm.
Isaac Herzog, the Israeli president, said “there are no words” for the agony of seeing the coffins. Many Israelis are now deeply familiar with the names and faces of the hostages, whose images have been ubiquitous in the country since their abduction.
“Our hearts — the hearts of an entire nation — lie in tatters,” Mr. Herzog wrote on social media. “On behalf of the State of Israel, I bow my head and ask for forgiveness. Forgiveness for not protecting you on that terrible day. Forgiveness for not bringing you home safely.”
Ms. Bibas and her children, along with Mr. Lifshitz, were kidnapped by Palestinian militants from Nir Oz, one of the hardest-hit Israeli communities during the attack. Roughly a quarter of the village’s 400-odd residents were either killed or taken hostage during the assault.
Ms. Bibas’s husband, Yarden Bibas, was also abducted. In footage from the scene that is now seared into Israel’s national memory, a terrified Ms. Bibas — covered with a blanket — could be seen clutching Ariel and Kfir to her chest.
In November 2023, Hamas published a statement announcing the deaths of Ms. Bibas and the two children. The group also published a propaganda video featuring a sobbing Mr. Bibas responding to the news. Human rights groups have said such videos amount to a war crime.
As part of the cease-fire agreement, Mr. Bibas was released earlier this month.
Mr. Lifshitz, a retired journalist, was taken alongside his wife, Yocheved Lifshitz. Hamas later freed her for what it said were “humanitarian reasons” but refused to release her husband. Before the war, Mr. Lifshitz had volunteered to drive Gazans seeking medical treatment in Israel to hospitals.
Both Israelis and Palestinians have seen emotional homecomings in recent weeks.
Israeli hostages reunited with their families after many months in Hamas’s warren of underground tunnels.
And Palestinian prisoners — some of whom emerged from Israeli jails appearing gaunt or unwell — also embraced loved ones. Some had been serving life sentences for deadly attacks against Israelis, while many others had not been charged with any crime.
Hamas has turned the hostage releases into ceremonies that showcase its dominance in Gaza despite 16 months of devastating war. The spectacles have prompted condemnation in Israel and abroad.
“Four coffins, presented onstage — images that are unbearable. Until the very end, the families of the hostages are exposed to Hamas’ limitless terror,” Annalena Baerbock, the German foreign minister, wrote on social media on Thursday.
On Saturday, Hamas is expected to free the last six living hostages in the first phase of the cease-fire with Israel in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners. The remains of four other hostages will be released the next weekend.
But the future of the truce after its first stage, which is set to expire in early March, is still shrouded in uncertainty.
Israel and Hamas have not agreed on terms to extend the agreement into a new phase that would conclusively end the war, free the remaining living hostages and see a full withdrawal of Israeli forces. This week, the Qatari government — which is brokering the talks alongside Egypt and the United States — said negotiations on the matter had yet to formally begin.
President Trump has pressured both sides to clinch such a deal. But Israel has refused to countenance any Hamas control in Gaza, while Hamas has shown little appetite for disbanding its battalions of armed fighters or for sending its Gaza leaders into exile.
The post With Coffins and Taunts, Hamas Hands Dead Hostages to Israel appeared first on New York Times.
