Hamas unveil horror display of four coffins on stage as terrorists hand over bodies of October 7 hostages including nine-month-old baby
Hamas has handed over the bodies of the two youngest victims taken during the October 7 attack in 2023 as part of a ceasefire deal with Israel.
The bodies of infant Kfir Bibas and his four-year-old brother Ariel, their mother Shiri Bibas, along with a fourth hostage, Oded Lifschitz were handed to the Red Cross.
The four black coffins had been placed on a stage in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, each of which displaying an image of the hostages.
On the stage was a poster depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a vampire standing over images of the four hostages. “The War Criminal Netanyahu & His Nazi Army Killed Them with Missiles from Zionist Warplanes.”
Hundreds of Palestinians gathered to watch the handover, while armed Hamas militants in black and camouflage uniforms toured the area. Another poster which featured the coffins wrapped in Israeli flags read “The Return of the War=The Return of your Prisoners in Coffins.”
Netanyahu said in a brief video statement that today would be “a very difficult day for the state of Israel. An upsetting day, a day of grief.”
Kfir Bibas was nine months old when the Bibas family, including their father Yarden, was abducted at Kibbutz Nir Oz, one of a string of communities near Gaza that were overrun by Hamas-led attackers from Gaza on October 7.
Hamas said in November 2023 that the boys and their mother had been killed in an Israeli airstrike, however their deaths were not confirmed by Israeli authorities with some refusing to accept they were dead.
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It comes as a ceasefire deal is currently holding between Hamas and Israel. Under the first phase, Hamas has agreed to release 33 hostages in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. So far 19 Israeli hostages have been released, as well as five Thais who were returned in an unscheduled handover.
Negotiations for a second phase, expected to cover the return of around 60 remaining hostages, less than half of whom are believed to be alive, and a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip to allow an end to the war, are expected to begin in the coming days.
Surveys have shown broad support amongst Israelis for the ceasefire, and thousands have taken to the streets to demand the government stick to the deal until all the remaining hostages are returned.
However, Netanyahu is under pressure from hard right politicians in his coalition government, some of which feel the agreement rewards Hamas and leaves the militant group in place in Gaza.
It comes after President Donald Trump’s call for Palestinians to be resettled outside Gaza, a move critics say would amount to a war crime and ethnic cleansing, and for the enclave to be developed as a waterfront property under US control.
Earlier this month, when asked by Fox News if Palestinians will have a right of return, Trump replied: “No, they wouldn’t because they’re going to have much better housing.” He added: “I’m talking about building a permanent place for them.”
After meeting the King of Jordan to discuss the situation in the Middle East, Trump said: “We will have Gaza. No reason to buy. There is nothing to buy. It’s Gaza. It’s a war-torn area. We’re going to take it. We’re going to hold it. We’re going to cherish it.”