Jerusalem, February 20, 2025: Hamas has returned the bodies of Kfir Bibas, an infant, and his four-year-old brother Ariel—Israel’s youngest hostages taken in the October 7, 2023, attack. Their remains were transferred to Israel via the Red Cross.
The handover, carried out under a ceasefire agreement brokered by the U.S., Qatar, and Egypt, saw Hamas militants display the coffins in Gaza before Red Cross vehicles transported them. UN rights chief Volker Turk condemned the public display as “abhorrent and cruel,” citing violations of international law.
Israelis gathered in mourning along the convoy’s route, while President Isaac Herzog expressed national grief, saying, “Our hearts lie in tatters.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “eliminate Hamas.”
Hamas previously claimed in November 2023 that the Bibas children and their mother, Shiri Bibas, were killed in an Israeli airstrike, but Israel never confirmed their deaths. The children’s father, Yarden Bibas, was recently released in a hostage exchange.
The handover marks the first return of bodies in the ongoing conflict. It will be followed by the release of six living hostages on Saturday, in exchange for Palestinian detainees. Negotiations continue for the release of the remaining hostages and a possible Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza.
