It was the type of morning in Tel Aviv where you didn’t want to get out of bed. The dread of hearing pouring rain outside your window in a city that struggles with drainage to begin with is a bit of a nightmare.
Nonetheless, I needed to start my reporting day early, as Hamas was set to hand over the bodies of four hostages murdered in captivity on the earlier side of the morning.
It was already a complicated day for the families of hostages, Israelis, and anyone impacted by the barbaric acts of October 7 — that’s because the fate of the youngest children and their mother was likely going to be known by the end of the day. A constant reality no one I’ve spoken with has wanted to face for 502 days.
The same moment I began to watch Al Jazeera’s live broadcast, I noticed the rain beginning to pound even harder, pouring down on the rooftops outside my window.
I saw on the livestream that the rain began to come down in Gaza, too, right at the beginning of Hamas’ makeshift ceremony that displayed four black coffins on their stage in Khan Yunis. Surrounded by propaganda slogans and posters, if you looked closely enough, there were images of each hostage on a coffin with their name.
The livestream had nearly every angle of Hamas terrorists transferring the coffins to the hands of the Red Cross, their final touch on the innocent lives they brutally kidnapped on October 7th.
As each delicate coffin was transferred into the trunk of a Red Cross vehicle, there were sounds of cheers with loud music from the crowd in Gaza. I watched on the livestream as the caravan of four Red Cross vehicles took off with the coffins, surrounded by armed Hamas terrorists in pickup trucks in front and behind them.
I knew at that moment I needed to race to Abu Kabir Forensic Institute, where specialized units from the IDF would be bringing the four bodies in for identification.
Located in Yafo near Tel Aviv, Israel’s national forensic institute is on a busy street with traffic at nearly all times. When I arrived, police began setting up barriers on the sidewalks and median in the street since word spread that hundreds of people would be coming out to pay their final respects to the lives murdered in Gaza.
Within 20 minutes of my arrival and setting up near the dozens of international press cameras, groups of people began to trickle in with large Israeli flags and signs.
Standing on the sidewalks surrounding the entrance where the vehicles would enter, supporters were ready to wait for the hour and 15-minute trek the IDF vehicles were making from the Gaza Strip to Yafo.
“Instead of sitting at home, staring at the TV and feeling helpless, we decided to come here and do the minimum,” said Elia, who wanted to come out to support the families with an Israeli flag in her hand.
“I brought a poster that is written ‘slicha,’ which means I’m sorry. We didn’t manage to bring them back alive, and we have to bring them here and find out how they died,” said Nava Bloch, who lives nearby.
Some supporters told me they were moved to tears, with agony and pain, as they saw Hamas’ handover in the morning hours with the four coffins on stage.
They said each time there’s a release of hostages, Hamas’s actions become even more insidious — but they say this handover reached a new level. Hamas’ propaganda show persuaded some to come to the final location where the bodies will be before they’re laid to rest in a cemetery.
“This is disgusting. We want life, we want peace and now we know that peace can’t be. No peace together. To kill two little boys, peace never,” said Teva, who couldn’t hold back her tears.
“You can’t have any expectations for anything from these people,” said Elia.
As more people flowed in, trying to get a spot in front of the gate, supporters were watching the live streams of Israeli news outlets to see how close the IDF convoy was to Abu Kabir. “They’re near Yad Mordechai now,” one man told me.
Strangers were next to each other, sharing phones and watching the livestream together. We watched supporters on the livestream from the south to north of Israel line the streets waving flags as the IDF convoy of vehicles passed by them. Videos on social media soon emerged of those supporters singing “Hatikvah,” Israel’s national anthem, once the vehicles passed by.
More than an hour later, another man watching the livestream shouted out loud, “Get ready, 5 minutes away, they’re in Holon.” Everyone got in position behind the street barriers as the heavy traffic in front of the forensic institute finally started to slow down.
A brightness outside as the weeps begin to sink in
Everything became quiet, and suddenly, the clouds that had filled the sky on and off cleared away. The sun began to come out, coming to its brightest point of the entire day.
The vehicles began to slowly roll down the street. Three large vans, led by police and emergency vehicles. You began to hear weeps from the crowd as reality started to sink in.
As I began filming the vehicles move through the gate at the forensic institute and document the emotional dread of so many in the crowd, I felt a hand squeeze my arm, as a woman came in to cry on my shoulder. I noticed strangers like her come together, crying together, embracing one another.
I realized the avoidance of acknowledging if the Bibas children really were no longer alive, began to hit people head-on. Although there still needed to be final confirmation, the concept of their remains passing through one of its final locations in front of the crowd began to sink in.
“They were kidnapped alive and they’re coming here”, said Bloch.
“Our heart is breaking. These two little boys… they can be my boys. I have a boy, he’s 2 years old, and my heart is just broken like everybody here,” said Teva. “You want to honor them; you want to support the family.”
The body of the fourth hostage released was confirmed to be Oded Lifshitz, an 84-year-old life-long journalist who also dedicated his life as a peace activist. His family said he would drive Gazans to hospitals inside of Israel. He was one of the co-founders of Kibbutz Nir Oz, the same place Shiri, Kfir, Ariel, and their father Yarden began their life as a family together.
As the heat from the sun became stronger, you could hear the echo of Hatikvah coming from the crowd lining the street. The emotions are complex and complicated, as the day is pinned just one day away from the release of 6 hostages who are said to be alive on Saturday.
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