The Israeli government has received confirmation on the identities of the deceased hostages due to be released from Gaza on Thursday. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters confirmed the names of Shiri Bibas and her two children, as well as Oded Lifshitz, a journalist and peace activist, all of whom were murdered while in Hamas custody.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office confirmed that they received the list of deceased hostages on Wednesday. The Coordinator for the Hostages and the Missing, Brig.-Gen. (Res.) Gal Hirsch, has updated the families of the hostages via the representatives of the IDF.
Lifshitz' family released a public statement following news that he was deceased on Wednesday, expressing their grief and determination to continue fighting until the last hostage is returned.
The confirmation comes days after Hamas released three additional hostages on Saturday in exchange for more than 300 Palestinian prisoners as part of the delicate ceasefire agreement reached with Israel. The hostages released were Alexander (Sasha) Troufanov, Sagui Dekel-Chen, and Iair Horn.
The Palestinian prisoners were freed from Israeli jails as part of the sensitive ceasefire agreement, which has continued to hold even after U.S. President Donald Trump's threats. Hamas accused Israel of violating the agreement but eventually released the hostages on time, with the ceasefire remaining in place.
About 70 hostages remain in Hamas custody, with nearly all believed to be men and about half presumed dead. The ceasefire agreement has seen the release of 24 hostages and over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners so far, with the first phase including the exchange of 33 Israeli hostages for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
