In a show that featured taunting and anti-Israel shouts, Hamas presented coffins it claimed contained the bodies of four Israeli hostages to a group of militants on Thursday as it turned them over to Israel.
Each casket included an image of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with the words “The Killer” scrawled over it, along with a picture of a hostage, including two small redheaded youngsters.
Before applauding onlookers and cameras that aired the scenes on Arab media networks, the coffins were set up on a platform.
After receiving the remains and transferring them to Israeli custody, the International Committee of the Red Cross first attempted to hide them from view by using enormous white screens.
The photographs were not disseminated by Israeli broadcasters.
Some Palestinians who had recently been freed by Israel as part of the cease-fire agreement and were expected to be expelled from Gaza were among the gathering.
Mohammed Abu Warda, who was convicted for organizing a bus bombing in 1996 that claimed the lives of over 40 Israelis, was among those seen in the crowds.
Those returning to Israel are dead for the first time since Israel and Hamas agreed to a tenuous cease-fire in which the Islamist group would release captives in return for Palestinian inmates.
According to Hamas, they include three members of a family whose apprehension came to represent the atrocities of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led onslaught that ignited the Gaza War.
For over a year, Israelis held out hope that Shiri Bibas and her two sons, Ariel and Kfir, who were abducted by Hamas when they were only 4 and 9 months old, might still be alive. Those aspirations were dashed on Thursday.
In the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis, a banner behind a stage depicted Netanyahu as a vampire with blood trickling down his chin, accusing him of being responsible for their deaths.
Hamas claimed that an Israeli airstrike had killed Shiri and the children in the early days of the conflict. Israel have so far not addressed the likelihood that they were killed in an airstrike or formally acknowledged their deaths.
Israel will free a number of Palestinian inmates in return for the bodies. As the first phase of the cease-fire draws to a close, Hamas has agreed to release six more hostages who are still alive on Saturday.
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