Hamas hands over bodies of four hostages, including two children, as ceasefire future is negotiated

BarcelonaHamas on Thursday handed over to the Red Cross the bodies of four Israeli hostages kidnapped on October 7, 2023, while the second phase of the fragile ceasefire in Gaza is being negotiated. They are Shiri Bibas and her two children, Kifr and Ariel, who were nine months and four years old when they were kidnapped. The fourth is Oded Lifshitz, an 83-year-old man, the pacifist and husband of Yocheved, who since her release last year has been one of the most prominent voices calling for a ceasefire. Hamas said in November last year that the mother and children had been killed in an Israeli bombing, although Tel Aviv had not confirmed this. The family was a symbol of the Israeli trauma in the Palestinian attack and also of the price that the Netanyahu government's policy of rejecting a ceasefire to allow their release had on the hostages.

The handover took place in southern Gaza, in Khan Younis, which the Israeli army had raided to make it the operations centre for the invasion of southern Gaza, with a heavy deployment of armed militants from Hamas and Islamic Jihad. It is the first return of deceased hostages, and Israel is not expected to confirm their identities until DNA tests have been carried out. The coffins have been presented on a stage with a banner showing a caricature of Netanyahu as if he were a bloody vampire with images of the deceased below.

The family was kidnapped in the Nir Oz kibbutz, one of the most victims in the Palestinian attack on 7 October. The father was also kidnapped and was released in the hostage-for-Palestinian prisoner exchanges that month. The day is one of high political tension in Israel. Israeli political scientist Akiva Eldar told Al Jazeera that "these creatures have become a symbol of the Israeli government's stupidity, of its lack of respect for Jewish values: the question is how do we stop the sacrifice of more innocent children in this war." Eldar denounces that "Netanyahu has other priorities than saving the hostages."

The ceasefire is very fragile and must continue on Saturday with the release of another six hostages in exchange for 500 Palestinian prisoners, most of them women and children, detained by the Israeli army in Gaza in the current offensive. Hamas brought forward the release of the bodies on Thursday and used it to make another show of force, while maintaining its commitment to the ceasefire. So far, 19 of the 33 hostages planned have been released, but the key question is what will happen on March 1, when the second phase of the ceasefire is due to take effect, which provides for the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and a permanent ceasefire. Hamas has offered to release all 60 hostages who are due to be returned in the second phase in one fell swoop, if Israel agrees to the permanent truce. Netanyahu's far-right ministers are putting pressure on him to abandon the agreement, although the ceasefire is supported by the majority of the population. But US President Donald Trump is advocating the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza, an ethnic cleansing that blows up the possibility of an agreement. An Arab League summit has been called for February 27 in Cairo, where the Arab countries are supposed to present their plan in response to the White House.