In a surprise announcement, a top Hamas leader says the militant group will release six living Israeli hostages on Saturday and the bodies of four others on Thursday, including the remains of the Bibas family, who for many Israelis have embodied the captives’ plight in Gaza, APA reports citing The Seattle Times.
Israel has said it is gravely concerned about Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, Ariel and Kfir, but has not confirmed their deaths. Hamas said they were killed in an Israeli airstrike early in the war.
Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya, in prerecorded remarks on Tuesday, said the “Bibas family” would be included in the handover of four bodies — the first to be released under the current ceasefire.