Hamas handed over to Israel the remains of four hostages who had been kidnapped on October 7, 2023. Among them were Argentine-Israelis Shiri Bibas and her two children, Ariel and Kfir, who was 9 months old at the time of the abduction. He was the youngest of the 251 people held hostage and became a symbol of the hostage crisis in Israel.

Yarden Bibas, the husband and father of the family, had been released by Hamas on February 1. He became the first Argentine hostage to be freed since the new ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian group began on January 19, 2025.

The final body returned on Thursday belonged to Israeli citizen Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 when kidnapped. All four were handed over from Hamas to officials from the Red Cross, who in turn delivered them to the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in order to be flown to Israel. 

A statement from the IDF added that the remains of all four were taken to the coroner’s office in order to be properly identified. 

Hamas announced in November 2023 that Shiri Bibas and the two children had been killed during an Israeli airstrike, but Israeli authorities have not been able to independently confirm the claim. In February 2024, the Israeli military said it had found footage of Shiri, Kfir, and Ariel being moved by militants in the Khan Younis area of Gaza, proving that they had got to the strip alive, but the date of the footage was unclear.

Hamas killed an estimated 1,200 Israelis on October 7, 2023. In the ensuing war, Israeli Defense Forces have killed at least 46,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.