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Rabat – Hamas has officially handed over the bodies of four Israeli hostages in Gaza’s Khan Younis to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as part of the ongoing Gaza ceasefire prisoner exchange.
These include members of the Bibas family – Shiri Bibas and her children Kfir and Areil – who have made Israeli headlines especially since October 7 because of their young age when they were captured. The fourth body was identified to be Oded Lifscitz.
The bodies of the hostages are reportedly set to undergo forensic testing in order to determine their cause of death. Hamas says that the family members were killed in an Israeli airstrike more than a year ago, as the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) indiscriminately carpet bombed much of Gaza since the beginning of their genocide on the enclave, but this has not yet been confirmed.
The exchange comes at a tense time when the ceasefire’s future outlook is more fragile than ever.
Hamas released three living Israeli hostages last Saturday, despite the fact that they had originally announced they would suspend the hostage release “until further notice” as leverage against Israel’s ceasefire violations.
The Palestinian group detailed in their statement that the IOF has begun shooting at civilians again, delayed Gazans’ return to the north, and obstructed crucial aid from entering the enclave.
Along these lines, authorities in Gaza have recently reported that Israel is preventing over 135,000 mobile homes and 500 bulldozers from being transported into the enclave, as well as other humanitarian aid shipments that were promised as part of the first phase of the truce deal.
Around 1,139 Israelis were killed and 200 taken captive by Hamas on October 7, 2023.
Over 15 months later, over 61,709 Gazans have been killed by the IOF in Israeli’s subsequent genocide on the enclave, and number is expected to rise Palestinians uncover more of their dead under the rubble.
