Israeli Geisel family forum receives shocking news about Biba's death

Israeli Geisel family forum receives shocking news about Biba's death

The forum of the hostages and missing families of Israel received the “heartbreaking news” on Wednesday that Shiri Bibas and her two small children, Ariel and Kfir, are among the four deceased hostages that are to be released on Thursday from the Gaza Strip.

first handover since the ceasefire

The body of oded lifshitz is also expected on the same day. This represents the first handover of deceased hostages since the ceasefire came into force with Hamas in January.

tragic news and family grief

"This message hits our hearts like a knife, the hearts of families and the hearts of people around the world," said the forum in a statement. "With great sadness we received the news about the return of Shiri, Kfir and Ariel Bibas as well as Oded Lifshitz, which have been kidnapped alive and will now return in Israel for eternal calm."

criticism of the Israeli government

The announcement of the names was overshadowed by the Bibas family's anger via the Israeli Prime Minister's office, which had published the names without their consent. At the family's request, the forum later submitted an explanation in which the public was asked not to "owlogize" the deceased before confirmation after the final identification.

faulty communication

A source in the Prime Minister office told CNN that no official statement with the names of the deceased hostages had been published, but IDF association officials had approved the publication of the names to reporters without previously clarifying this. "This is a serious mistake in the behavior of the IDF association officials towards the Bibas family, which is due to an unfortunate human failure," said the source.

regret the Israeli defense forces

The IDF announced CNN that she had checked the incident and spoke to the families. "We regret the unintentional mistake and the inconvenience he caused the families," it said.

Benjamin Netanyahus message

Before the upcoming shares, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video address that "tears my own heart". "Tomorrow will be a very difficult day for the state of Israel. A torn day, a day of mourning. We bring four of our beloved hostages, unfortunately died, home," he said.

The Bibas children

The children of Bibas, Kfir and Ariel, were just Nine months and four years old . Your family is one of the best -known victims of the terrorist attacks on October 7th.

messages about further hostages

Lifshitz was 83 years old when he was kidnapped with his wife Yocheved on October 7, 2023 from her home in the Kibbutz Nir Oz. Yocheved was one of two hostages that were later released by Hamas this month, while Oded remained in captivity.

In another explanation of the forum on Wednesday, it was said: "In addition to the serious grief, her return to the funeral creates certainty for her relatives and closes the painful circle of uncertainty that lasted 502 days."

more kidnapped and the struggle for their return

"There are 69 other kidnapped people who are held by Hamas, for which there is still no release date," added the forum and asked the decision -makers to "speed up" the negotiations. The Lifshitz family said in a statement: "These are not easy times for us after we have been informed that our beloved oded is on the list of hostages that will return to Israel tomorrow after he was kidnapped from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz."

"We hoped and prayed for another end for another end, but until we get absolute certainty, our journey will not end. Even after that we will continue to fight until the last hostage is brought back," said the further explanation.

Report by CNNS Kareem Khadder and Ivana Kottasová.