Hamas’ Shocking Stunt: Dead Hostages Used as Grim Propaganda
Hamas staged a dramatic display on Thursday while handing over the bodies of four Israeli hostages to Israel, turning the transfer into a public spectacle filled with taunts, propaganda, and anti-Israel slogans.
The group placed coffins—each featuring a hostage’s photo—on a stage before a cheering crowd of militants in Gaza’s Khan Younis. Among the images were two young redheaded children and a picture of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with the words “The Killer” written over it. The event was broadcast on Arab television, while Israeli media chose not to air the footage. The International Committee of the Red Cross, which facilitated the transfer, attempted to shield the scene with large white screens.
In the crowd were Palestinians who had recently been released from Israeli prisons as part of the cease-fire deal, including Mohammed Abu Warda, responsible for a 1996 bus bombing that killed over 40 Israelis.
For the first time in the fragile hostage-prisoner exchange, the returnees to Israel were dead. Hamas handed over the remains of Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, Ariel and Kfir, whose captivity had become a symbol of the horrors of the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack that ignited the Gaza war. Israelis had clung to hope that the Bibas family had survived, but on Thursday, those hopes were shattered.
A banner behind the stage in Khan Younis depicted Netanyahu as a blood-dripping vampire, blaming him for the deaths. Hamas previously claimed that an Israeli airstrike killed the Bibas family, though Israel never officially confirmed their fate.
A banner reading “We Never Forgave nor Forgot” loomed over the grim spectacle, echoing the phrase written on the clothing of Palestinian prisoners freed in last week’s exchange.
Among the hostages returned was Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 when Hamas captured him from Kibbutz Nir Oz. His family confirmed his identity but remained uncertain about when or how he died. Oded and his wife, Yocheved—both peace activists—were kidnapped together, but she was released after 17 days due to illness.
“It isn’t over today,” said Oded’s son, Izhar Lifshitz, before the handover. “It will be over when everyone is back.” The remains of all four hostages will undergo forensic examination in Tel Aviv for final confirmation. In exchange for the bodies, Israel is releasing Palestinian prisoners, and Hamas is set to free six more living hostages on Saturday as the first phase of the cease-fire deal nears its end.
An Israeli military rabbi led a brief ceremony after the remains were transferred, reciting the Kaddish prayer and Psalms as per the families’ requests. Troops fired ceremonial shots, and a convoy transported the bodies across the border.
At Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, where Israelis have gathered weekly to witness hostages return, a sea of flags fluttered in the morning rain. Later, as the sky cleared, mourners silently embraced while watching a tribute video on a large screen.
“I’m happy to put up a flag and show the families that we are with them,” said Gili Marcovich, a 23-year-old student volunteer.
Adi Koren, 18, attended with a friend whose uncle, an Israeli soldier, was killed in the war. “I just feel sadness and frustration,” she said.
The fate of the Bibas family—Shiri, 33, and her sons Ariel, 4, and Kfir, 9 months—was especially devastating. Many Israelis had clung to hope that they were still alive, despite their absence from earlier hostage releases. Their deaths became harder to deny in recent weeks.
The Bibas family lived just over a mile from the Gaza border in Nir Oz, one of the communities hit hardest in the October 7 attack. Nearly a quarter of its 400 residents were killed or kidnapped. Shiri, her husband Yarden, and their sons had been hiding in a shelter as Hamas militants closed in. Yarden left to defend them but was captured. He was held separately and was released in an earlier exchange.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the nation Wednesday night, saying, “The heart of the entire nation is torn. My own heart is torn. So is yours. And the world’s heart should be torn—because this shows who we are dealing with.”
“We are grieving, we are in pain, but we are also determined to ensure that such a thing never happens again,” he vowed.
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