Hamas has handed over the bodies of an Israeli woman, her two young children, and an elderly man who were taken captive during the October 2023 attack on southern Israel.
Hamas staged a public handover ceremony in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, displaying four coffins on a stage in front of a poster depicting the likeness of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with fangs and blood on his face.
Masked Hamas fighters then carried the coffins from the stage and handed them over to the Red Cross.
United Nations rights chief Volker Turk slammed the spectacle as cruel and contrary to international law.
“Under international law, any handover of the remains of deceased must comply with the prohibition of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, ensuring respect for the dignity of the deceased and their families,” he said.
The Bibas brothers, the youngest captives taken on October 7, have become symbols of national anguish for many Israelis. Hamas has maintained that they were killed in an Israeli air strike during the war, during which Israeli forces were responsible for the deaths of numerous captives held by Palestinian armed groups.
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