{"id":2404589,"date":"2025-02-20T09:44:02","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T14:44:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hamas-hands-over-the-bodies-of-four-dead-israeli-hostages\/"},"modified":"2025-02-20T09:45:07","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T14:45:07","slug":"hamas-hands-over-the-bodies-of-four-dead-israeli-hostages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hamas-hands-over-the-bodies-of-four-dead-israeli-hostages\/","title":{"rendered":"Hamas hands over the bodies of four dead Israeli hostages"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhamas-hands-over-the-bodies-of-four-dead-israeli-hostages%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2404589&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Hamas recently handed over the bodies of four Israeli hostages, including two <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nfl-player-believed-to-have-carried-out-s-c-shooting-5-dead\/\" title=\"NFL player believed to have carried out S.C. shooting, 5 dead\">young children aged<\/a> four and eight months, who where captured during the conflict that began on October 7, 2023. the hostages&#8217; remains were returned in\u2063 black coffins during a ceremony \u2062where Hamas made\u2062 a show of the proceedings, using the \u200boccasion for\u2063 propaganda by \u2062displaying anti-Israeli imagery. The U.N. condemned the\u200b manner of the handover, emphasizing that international laws mandate respect for the dignity of the deceased. \u2063Israel&#8217;s Prime Minister netanyahu confirmed receipt of the coffins, and President Herzog expressed\u200c deep sorrow for the families \u2062affected. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/anheuser-busch-will-hate-what-supreme-court-justice-alito-did-amid-bud-light-boycott\/\" title=\"Supreme Court Justice Alito&#039;s Action Upsets Anheuser-Busch During Bud Light Boycott\">situation unfolds amid<\/a> a six-week \u2064ceasefire agreement, allowing for the exchange \u2062of hostages for Palestinian prisoners while the war continues to be marked by significant casualties on both sides. Casualty\u2062 reports from the\u200b Gaza Health Ministry, overseen by Hamas, claim around 46,000 Palestinians have died, while the conflict has also resulted \u200din considerable Israeli military and civilian losses.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Hamas hands over the bodies of four dead Israeli hostages<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1963156\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/hamas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Hamas\">Hamas<\/a> handed over the bodies of four <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/israel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Hamas\">Israeli<\/a> hostages, including the two youngest.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>The remains of the elderly Oded Lifschitz and Yarden Bibas and her two children, Airel Bibas and Kfir Bibas, who were 4 years old and 8 months old at the time of their abduction, were handed over in black coffins. The two children were the youngest taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023. The ceremony marked the first time Hamas handed over the remains of hostages since the January ceasefire.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Palestinian fighters stand next to a coffin containing the body of Oded Lifshitz, one of four Israeli hostages, to hand it over to the Red Cross in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP Photo\/Jehad Alshrafi)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The four hostages were taken alive but died sometime while in Hamas captivity. Yarden Bibas was also taken captive but survived. He was released two weeks ago.<\/p>\n<p>Hamas has used the handover of the hostages as a propaganda opportunity, parading hostages before their release. In the Thursday ceremony, attended by hundreds of locals, Hamas, and allied fighters carried the black coffins before a massive banner showing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a vampire with blood dripping down his face. Images of the hostages were superimposed on his chest, surrounded by blood.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The War Criminal Netanyahu &amp; His Nazi Army Killed Them with Missiles from Zionist Warplanes,&rdquo; text in Hebrew and English on the banner read.<\/p>\n<p>A rocket or bomb was displayed in front of the coffins, with a sticker in English reading, &ldquo;They were killed by USA bombs.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Hamas fighters hand over a coffin containing one of the four bodies of Israeli hostages, including a mother and her two children, who had long been feared dead, to the Red Cross in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP Photo\/Jehad Alshrafi)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The coffins were handed over to the Red Cross, which covered them in white sheets and drove them to Israel in a convoy.<\/p>\n<p>Israelis and the United Nations roundly condemned the display.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Under international law, any handover of the remains of deceased must comply with the prohibition of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, ensuring respect for the dignity of the deceased and their families,&rdquo; U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike previous hostage releases, the display on Thursday wasn&rsquo;t live streamed on Israeli screens in the so-called &ldquo;hostage square&rdquo; in Tel Aviv like previous occasions.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Israel has received, via the Red Cross, the coffins of four fallen hostages,&rdquo; Netanyahu said, adding that their remains are being examined. &ldquo;The families of the hostages have been informed, and our hearts are with them in this difficult time.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There are no words. Our hearts &mdash; the hearts of an entire nation &mdash; lie in tatters,&rdquo; Israeli President Isaac Herzog said in a statement on X.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;On behalf of the State of Israel, I bow my head and ask for forgiveness. Forgiveness for not protecting you on that terrible day. Forgiveness for not bringing you home safely,&rdquo; he added.<\/p>\n<p>The Red Cross convoy carrying the bodies was greeted by hundreds of Israeli mourners.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A border policewoman and a policeman salute as a convoy carrying the coffins of four Israeli hostages, including a mother and her two children, arrives at the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. The bodies were handed over by Palestinian militant groups in Gaza.(AP Photo\/Ohad Zwigenberg)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Despite previous <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/foreign-policy\/3316314\/trump-israel-cancel-ceasefire-hamas-release-all-hostages-deadline\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"hints\">hints<\/a> that it would collapse, the six-week ceasefire has held so far.<\/p>\n<p>The ceasefire deal calls for a pause in fighting for six weeks and the opening of negotiations to end the war altogether. Over those six weeks, 33 hostages are to be exchanged for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Displaced Palestinians will be able to return to what&rsquo;s left of their homes, and humanitarian aid will flow freely. So far, 24 living hostages and four deceased have been released to Israel.<\/p>\n<p>Israel estimated that 30 of nearly 100 remaining hostages are dead, but U.S. and Israeli officials privately believe the true number to be much higher, the&nbsp;<em>Wall Street Journal<\/em>&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/world\/middle-east\/israel-hamas-ceasefire-deal-gaza-hostage-release-cdf9ba32?mod=WSJ_home_mediumtopper_pos_1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The war is the deadliest in Israel&rsquo;s history. While casualty counts are controversial, the Gaza Health Ministry, overseen by Hamas, reports that 46,000 Palestinians have been killed since Oct. 7, most of them women and children, though its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/percentage-of-us-residents-who-are-foreign-born-rises-to-highest-level-in-113-years\/\" title=\"Percentage of US Residents Who Are Foreign Born Rises to Highest Level in 113 Years\">figures don&#038;rsquo<\/a>;t distinguish between civilians and fighters. It says another 110,000 have been wounded, while nearly the entire population has been displaced.<\/p>\n<p>Over 400 Israel Defense Force soldiers have been killed in operations in Gaza. Roughly 1,200 Israelis were killed in Hamas&rsquo;s Oct. 7, 2023, surprise attack that ignited the war.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1963156\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1963156\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hamas returns the bodies of four deceased Israeli hostages<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2653,"featured_media":2404590,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Hamas-Israeli-hostages.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[5237,50400,39912],"class_list":["post-2404589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-conflict","tag-hamas-2","tag-israeli-hostages"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Hamas-Israeli-hostages.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2404589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2653"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2404589"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2404589\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2404593,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2404589\/revisions\/2404593"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2404590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2404589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2404589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2404589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}