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Netanyahu Says Thursday to Be ‘Wrenching Day’ for Israel as Hamas, Islamic Jihad Set to Hand Over Hostage Bodies
Yzhar Lifshitz, a resident of Kibbutz Nir Oz, holds a poster of his father, Oded Lifshitz, 84, who had been held hostage in Gaza since the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas, during an interview with Reuters in Karmei Yosef, Israel, Dec. 17, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Joyce Zhou
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Thursday would be a “difficult” and “wrenching” day for Israel as it receives the bodies of four hostages set to be handed over by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas as part of the ongoing Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release deal.
“Tomorrow will be a very difficult day for the State of Israel. A wrenching day, a day of grief. We are bringing home four of our beloved hostages, deceased,” Netanyahu said in a statement on Wednesday.
The Israeli premier’s comments came one day after his office confirmed that “four slain hostages” would be released on Thursday, followed by “six living hostages” on Saturday as part of the Jewish state’s ceasefire with Hamas that has halted the war in Gaza.
“We embrace the families, and the heart of the entire nation is torn. My own heart is torn. So is yours. And all of the world’s heart should be torn, because this demonstrates who we are dealing with, what we are dealing with — with such monsters,” Netanyahu’s statement on Wednesday continued. “We are grieving, we are in pain, but we are also determined to ensure that such a thing never happens again.”
The armed wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, an Iran-backed terrorist group in Gaza allied with Hamas, said on Wednesday that it would release the body of Israeli hostage Oded Lifshitz, who was 84 years old, on Thursday. The group said Lifshitz was one of the hostages killed during Israeli strikes on Gaza.
Hamas is set to release the bodies of three other hostages on Thursday, members of the Bibas family. A spokesperson for the terrorist group announced on Tuesday that it would transfer the bodies of the four Israelis, including the two youngest hostages, Kfir and Ariel Bibas.
Also on Tuesday, the families of Omer Wenkert, Omer Shem Tov, Eliya Cohen, Tal Shoham, Avera Mengistu, and Hisham al-Sayed announced they had been informed by Israeli authorities that their loved ones were slated for release on Saturday.
Al-Sayed and Mengistu had been held in Gaza for over a decade after entering the enclave of their own accord. All the others were abducted on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists invaded southern Israel, murdered 1,200 people, and kidnapped 251 hostages into Gaza.
An additional four hostages would be released next week, according to Netanyahu’s office.
The fate of Kfir and Ariel Bibas — who were nine months and four years old, respectively, at the time of their abduction — and their mother, Shiri, has remained uncertain since the Oct. 7 massacre, during which they were snatched from their home in kibbutz Nir Oz. Shiri’s husband, Yarden Bibas, was released earlier this month as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal.
In a statement, the Bibas family said it had not received confirmation from Israeli authorities on Hamas’s declaration of their deaths.
“In the past few hours, we have been in turmoil following a Hamas spokesperson’s announcement about the planned return of our Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir this Thursday as part of the hostages’ remains release phase,” the family said in the statement, which was released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. “We want to make it clear that while we are aware of these reports, we have not yet received any official confirmation regarding this matter. Until we receive definitive confirmation, our journey is not over. We ask the media and the public to respect our privacy and refrain from contacting us about this matter.”
The Israeli health care system and the National Center of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv are preparing to receive the deceased hostages and conduct examinations to confirm identification and attempt to determine the cause and time of death.
Before then, the Red Cross will take custody of the bodies from Hamas at a designated transfer point and hand them over to the Israeli military.
Hamas has so far only released living hostages, and mental health organizations are reportedly making preparations for the devastating emotional impact that the first hand-over of hostage bodies will have not only on the families but also Israeli society more broadly.
The first phase of the ceasefire, which went into effect on Jan. 19 and is set to last 42 days, calls on Hamas to gradually release 33 Israeli hostages, eight of whom are believed to be dead, in exchange for about 1,900 Palestinian prisoners, many of whom have been serving lengthy sentences for terrorist activity.
About 70 captives remain in Gaza, including the bodies of 35 confirmed dead by the Israeli military.
Negotiations for the next phase of the ceasefire deal are set to begin this week. That phase is supposed to include the release of all the remaining living hostages and a full Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza, although differing views over Gaza’s future, including the role of Hamas in the Palestinian enclave, still need to be addressed.
The post Netanyahu Says Thursday to Be ‘Wrenching Day’ for Israel as Hamas, Islamic Jihad Set to Hand Over Hostage Bodies first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.