Return of bodies marks day of anguish for Israel

In the somber winter day, as a fine rain fell, the moment the Israeli people had most deeply feared finally arrived: the return of the dead. This handover, as with those before it, began with a politically charged display by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups, who have held Israeli hostages for over 500 days.

Once again, a stage was set, with huge posters highlighting the disastrous consequences of Israel's military operations in Gaza, as well as the determination of Palestinians to remain on their land. However, this time, instead of emaciated and traumatized survivors, there were four black coffins, each bearing a photograph of Ohad Lifshitz, Shiri Bibas, and her two young sons, Ariel and Kfir, alongside an image of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.

Slogans were scrawled on missile casings: "They were killed by American bombs." Hamas has consistently claimed that the four died in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, a claim that has not been verified. Red Cross officials, as usual, were present to oversee the process. They made a rare public statement, urging Hamas to conduct the handover in a private and dignified manner. Their efforts were clearly in vain, but they attempted to prevent public scrutiny, covering each coffin with a white sheet before it was taken away.

Due to the heavy rain, the crowd was smaller than usual. Following the handover on Thursday morning, a military ceremony was held on the edge of the Gaza Strip, where the coffins, draped in Israeli flags, were carried away as the military's chief rabbi recited prayers. A convoy then headed north to the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute in Jaffa, where formal identification of the bodies would take place. Along the route, a small group of Israelis stood silently in the rain, holding Israeli flags and yellow banners – the color associated with the hostages and their supporters. In Karme Gat, where displaced members of Kibbutz Nir Oz, waiting to return home, are residing, the vigil was particularly solemn. All four of those returned on Thursday had been kidnapped from Nir Oz on October 7, 2023.

A somber atmosphere permeated the Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, with people weeping or sitting on the ground, their heads in their hands. The faces of the red-haired Bibas brothers – Ariel and Kfir – had been plastered on walls, street signs, and windows across the country. Despite fearing the worst, Israelis had clung to the hope that the brothers might have survived with their mother, Shiri. "We are completely shocked by this news," said Orly Marlen outside Abu Kabir. "My grandchildren are also redheads, and seeing these pictures is truly heartbreaking."

Izhar Lifshitz, son of Ohad Lifshitz, meanwhile, told Israeli radio that he had been concerned about his father's health ever since he was violently abducted in October 2023. Ohad was 84 years old at the time. He and his wife, Yocheved, were both taken to Khan Yunis in Gaza, where they were separated and never saw each other again. Yocheved was released by Hamas two weeks after the attack. "We need to close this wound and move forward," Izhar said, adding that his father was a renowned journalist and peace activist who had long held his own views on how to resolve the conflict in the Middle East. "It's sad that we went through the whole cycle and didn't solve it," Izhar said. "We left it as something latent, and look where we are now."

Meanwhile, in Gaza, some Palestinians expressed their outrage that the bodies of Israelis were being handed over, while vast numbers of Palestinians killed in Israeli military operations remained buried in the apocalyptic rubble of the Gaza Strip. Furthermore, according to the Palestinian protest group the National Campaign to Retrieve Martyrs’ Bodies, as many as 665 bodies are being held by Israel in numbered cemeteries. Some, the group says, have been held for decades. "I don't like this deal at all," said Ikram Abu Salout in Khan Yunis. "They haven't cleared the rubble, and we don't even know where our children and families are."

As she spoke, bulldozers bearing Egyptian flags finally arrived in northern Gaza. Israel allowed the equipment in, in exchange for Thursday's handover, as well as the release of six more living hostages this Saturday.