Bodies of Bibas family, taken hostage by Hamas, returned in caskets

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For more than 500 days, the Bibas family has been a symbol of hope and resilience in the face of the horrors of the Israel-Hamas War. At the time of their kidnapping by Hamas terrorists on October 7, Kfir was nearly nine months old, his brother Ariel was four, and their mother Shiri was 32.

Rather than returning home alive, their bodies — along with hostage Oded Lifshitz, 83-years-old when he was kidnapped — were carried in caskets through crowds of Gazan men, women and children on Thursday in Khan Yunis, a southern Gaza city. News outlets CNBC, CNN and the Associated Press live-streamed the transfer, showing hundreds celebrating as loud music played.

But first, the caskets were put on display.

They were showcased on a stage erected by Hamas specifically for the event, as the Jerusalem Post reported. The backdrop revealed a caricature of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a blood-sucking vampire — an antisemitic trope. Below him, the Bibas family and Lifshitz were shown covered in red. Writing in English referred to Netanyahu as a “war criminal.”

The caskets were loaded onto Red Cross trucks and handed over to the Israeli army. IDF sappers inspected the caskets, which were locked without keys, to ensure they were not booby-trapped.

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Some videos shared on social media showed children dancing on the stage where the caskets had been. It left Israeli author Hen Mazzig speechless.

“I have no words. Palestinian children in Gaza celebrating after the Bibas babies’ and their mother’s, along with Oded Lipschitz’s coffins were presented on the same stage. Oded used to drive Palestinian children to hospitals in Israel for treatment,” he wrote in a post on X.

The World Jewish Congress condemned Hamas for what it described as its “latest act of inhumanity,” in a news release on Thursday.

“Their bodies were handed over to the Red Cross today after Hamas paraded them in Gaza in a shocking display of cruelty and propaganda,” it said.

“Hamas’s treatment of these victims in death is as abhorrent as their treatment in life. The terror group labelled each casket with ‘Date of arrest: October 7’ — a blatant distortion of the truth. These innocent civilians were not arrested; they were violently kidnapped from their homes during Hamas’s brutal attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and murdered in captivity.”

The events of Thursday were in stark contrast to previous hostage releases by Hamas. Former hostages who were freed in exchange for Palestinian prisoners were paraded through jeering crowds and gun-wielding terrorists, some forced to smile and take photos with their captors — yet Israelis were able to celebrate their homecoming.

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But on Thursday, thousands of mourners carrying Israeli flags and yellow solidarity flags lined Israeli highways to pay tribute as vehicles carrying the remains drove by. As bands of pouring rain moved through the area, they wiped away tears or quietly sang the national anthem as the convoy passed. Just before sunset, a double rainbow unfolded across the sky.

In Tel Aviv, thousands of people gathered at the city’s Hostage Square for a ceremony, including the recitation of traditional mourning prayers. Some in the crowd held orange balloons, in honour of the Bibas boys who had red hair, and the crowd swelled after sundown as musicians performed subdued ballads, matching the nation’s sadness.

“Our hearts — the hearts of an entire nation — lie in tatters,” Israeli President Isaac Herzog said in a statement. “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.”

In a post on X, the Israel Defense Forces said the bodies of the three members of the Bibas family and of Lifshitz were being taken to the National Institute of Forensic Medicine to undergo an identification procedure.

National Post, with additional reporting by the Associated Press

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