On Saturday, February 22, as part of the ongoing fragile truce that includes the exchange of Palestinian prisoners. This release marks one of the final transfers under this initial phase of the agreement.
The emotional atmosphere in Israel intensified after the family of Shiri Bibas confirmed they had received her remains. Bibas, along with her two young sons, had become symbols of the pain faced by Israeli hostages since the Gaza conflict began.
Dozens of hostages were taken during the unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which sparked over 15 months of conflict in Gaza.
In Rafah, southern Gaza, masked fighters escorted Tal Shoham and Avera Mengistu onto a stage, where Shoham addressed the crowd. The two were then handed over to the Red Cross, which transported them to Israeli authorities, who subsequently took them back to Israel.
In Tel Aviv, hundreds gathered at ‘Hostages Square’ to watch the release, responding with applause and tears.
Later that morning, four additional hostages were scheduled for release in a separate exchange in central Gaza, including Eliya Cohen, Omer Shem Tov, Omer Wenkert, and Hisham al-Sayed, who had been in Gaza for nearly a decade.
These releases are part of the first phase of a ceasefire initiated on January 19, set to conclude in early March. A Hamas source indicated plans for further hostages to be released from Nuseirat in central Gaza later that day.
At both release sites, militants staged a ceremonial event, complete with stages and banners promoting their cause. The Red Cross has emphasized the importance of conducting these handovers with dignity.
In Rafah, amid cold rain, Hamas fighters demonstrated their strength, armed with automatic weapons and rocket launchers, while nationalistic music played. Hamas’s green flags were prominently displayed around war-damaged buildings.
Simultaneously, Israel was preparing to release 602 Palestinian prisoners as part of the swap, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club. Most of those released were Gazans arrested since the war began, some facing deportation outside Israel and the Palestinian territories.
To date, the ceasefire has led to the release of 21 living Israeli hostages in exchange for over 1,100 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails. The latest release follows Thursday’s transfer of hostage bodies. Initially, Hamas claimed Shiri Bibas’s remains were among those returned, but Israeli authorities later identified them as not belonging to her, causing widespread grief. Hamas later admitted there might have been a mix-up, attributing the confusion to Israeli airstrikes.
The Red Cross confirmed the transfer of more remains on Friday but did not disclose their identities. The Bibas family expressed deep sorrow upon confirming Shiri’s death, stating she had been murdered in captivity.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, facing domestic criticism regarding the war and hostage situation, pledged to hold Hamas accountable for this “cruel and evil violation” of the agreement. On February 20, military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari stated that an analysis confirmed Palestinian militants had killed Bibas’s sons, Ariel and Kfir, “with their bare hands” in November 2023, while Hamas claimed an airstrike was responsible.
Shiri’s sister-in-law, Ofri Bibas, expressed that while the family was not seeking revenge at the moment, there would be “no forgiveness” for the failure to secure the safety of Shiri and her sons. Among the bodies returned on February 20 was that of 83-year-old Oded Lifshitz. During the October 7 attack, Hamas and its allies took 251 people hostage, with 65 still in Gaza, including 35 that the Israeli military reports are deceased.
The attack resulted in 1,215 deaths in Israel, primarily civilians, while Israel’s military response has reportedly led to over 48,319 deaths in Gaza, the majority of whom are also civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza, deemed reliable by the United Nations.
