Hamas releases bodies of four Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners
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S Panda - . February 20, 2025
- . Update: February 20, 2025 4:26 pm
Hamas has released the bodies of 4 Israeli hostages, including a mother (Shiri Bibas) and her 2 young sons, and Oded Lifshitz (84). The bodies are going to undergo forensic testing in Israel to confirm their identity, as per media reports.
The four people had been taken hostage during the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. Shiri Bibas’ husband had also been captured by the militants and taken into Gaza. He has been released. The Bibas family had become a symbol of the hostage struggle in Israel.
Hamas handed the bodies of Israeli hostages to the International Committee of the Red Cross at a staged ceremony near a cemetery in Gaza’s Khan Younis. The Mujahideen Brigades said the mother and her kids died in an Israeli airstrike in late 2023.
In exchange for the bodies, Israel is expected to release more than 600 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. This is the 7th such hostage-for-prisoner exchange in the month-old Gaza ceasefire agreement. Keep an eye out for more details.
