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   Nonilex (nonilex@masto.ai)'s status on Friday, 21-Feb-2025 00:57:57 JST Nonilex

   #Hamas released the bodies of 4 hostages Thurs, including…the remains of a mother & her 2 young children, members of the #Bibas family, whose story came to symbolize the brutality of the #Oct7, 2023 attacks.
   
…The deaths of Shiri Bibas & her sons—Ariel, who was 4yrs old, & Kfir, who was 8½ months old at the time of the abduction—were suspected for months, but only confirmed when Hamas announced their bodies would be among those released.

   #Israel #Gaza #war #geopolitics
   https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/02/20/hostages-hamas-gaza-israel-bibas-family/

   • Embed this notice
     Nonilex (nonilex@masto.ai)'s status on Friday, 21-Feb-2025 00:58:26 JST Nonilex

     in reply to

     …Similar to past releases, #Hamas fighters erected large #propaganda posters at the site of the handover in #Gaza. “The return of war = the return of your prisoners in coffins,” read one of the signs. Hamas fighters displayed the coffins on a stage visible to the crowd before handing them over.
     
Hamas has come under fierce criticism for parading hostages in front of crowds during previous releases. The ICRC has called for all exchanges to be carried out in a “dignified” manner.

     #geopolitics

     HistoPol (#HP) 🏴 🇺🇸 🏴 repeated this.
   • Embed this notice
     Nonilex (nonilex@masto.ai)'s status on Friday, 21-Feb-2025 00:58:26 JST Nonilex

     in reply to

     The #Gaza ceasefire is now in its 5th week, & the 2 sides were supposed to begin talks on the deal’s second phase, which calls for further hostage releases.

     #Hamas has offered to expedite the release of hostages by freeing 6 people rather than the prescribed 3 on Saturday, hoping to build pressure on #Israel to stick to the #ceasefire agreement until the second phase. #Netanyahu has said he remains ready to return to #war in the Gaza Strip.

     #geopolitics #MiddleEast #HumanitarianCrisis

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     Nonilex (nonilex@masto.ai)'s status on Friday, 21-Feb-2025 00:58:27 JST Nonilex

     in reply to

     #Hamas said the 4th body released was of #OdedLifshitz, a retired #journalist & #peace activist who was 83 at the time of the #Oct7 attacks. #Lifshitz was taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz w/ his wife, Yocheved, who was released by #Hamas wks later for “crushing humanitarian reasons,” per a stmnt from the group at the time.
     
Yocheved, who is also in her 80s, described the “unimaginable hell” of her time in captivity, which included beatings & being held in a “spiderweb” of tunnels.

     #Israel #Gaza #war

   • Embed this notice
     Nonilex (nonilex@masto.ai)'s status on Friday, 21-Feb-2025 00:58:28 JST Nonilex

     in reply to

     Shiri Bibas; her husband, Yarden; & their sons were taken from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz. Yarden #Bibas was released just over 2 weeks ago in a round of exchanges.

     Crowds gathered in the rain in #Gaza to watch the hostages’ bodies handed over to waiting Red Cross teams. #Hamas fighters dressed in dark fatigues delivered the coffins one by one to the Red Cross, who transferred them into vehicles. The Red Cross delivered the coffins to #Israel forces in the Gaza Strip.

     #war #geopolitics

   • Embed this notice
     Nonilex (nonilex@masto.ai)'s status on Friday, 21-Feb-2025 00:58:28 JST Nonilex

     in reply to

     Israelis gathered along the highway in the country’s south to watch the coffins travel by convoy to Tel Aviv for forensic examination. #Israel’s govt has not confirmed the deaths of Shiri, Ariel & Kfir, saying it will verify the identities of the deceased only after the examination.

     …It is unclear how Shiri #Bibas & her sons were killed. #Hamas alleges that they were killed by an Israeli airstrike but has not provided any evidence.

     #Gaza #war #geopolitics