Hundreds attend funeral of UK-linked hostage Oded Lifshitz, 84
Huge crowds of mourners have paid their final respects at the funeral in Israel of 84-year-old peace activist and British-linked hostage Oded Lifshitz.
Wellwishers came out in force to accompany the path of his casket on Tuesday from Rishon Lezion to Nir Oz with Israeli flags.
The Israeli former journalist was taken from his hometown Kibbutz Nir Oz when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages.
His remains were returned on Thursday from the Gaza Strip, more than 500 days later.
Throughout that time his British daughter – Dr Sharone Lifschitz, 53, of Walthamstow, east London – has campaigned for all the hostages to be freed.
She is said to be 'crushed' by all that has happened, according to Steve Brisley, 48, of Bridgend, Wales, who counted on her support and friendship as he waited for his captured brother-in-law Eli Sharabi to be freed.
In his eulogy, Israel President Isaac Herzog told the mourners, including some who were former hostages, that every captive was a 'humanitarian case' and must be freed.
He pledged: 'I will not rest and I will not be silent until they all return home. Every single one of them.
'The living to their families and homes, and the fallen to be laid to rest in dignity.'
Mr Lifshitz, who helped found kibbutz Nir Oz, was hailed as 'a peace activist, man of books and spirit, a humanitarian connected to both people and land' in the public notice which had urged mourners to attend.
The great-grandfather and grandfather-of-11 spent his retirement as a journalist driving Palestinian patients from the border checkpoint to receive medical treatment at Israeli hospitals.
Dr Lifschitz held back tears as she locked arms in support of her mother Yocheved while the 86-year-old read a tribute at the funeral.
Her mother was also taken hostage but was released two weeks later.
Mr Brisley described Mr Lifshitz as 'a beacon of light that we all can aspire to be' adding that 'if there were more Odeds in the world there would be less chance of events like October 7 happening'.
Watching the funeral online, he told the PA news agency: 'Trying to live our lives in the way he did, in a very selfless and peaceful way, would probably be the best tribute we can give to him.
'It is an incredibly sad day.
'There was always a glimmer of hope that he might come out but with every day passing day, as weeks went, we were all realistic that his chances of coming out alive decreased significantly.
'I know that Sharone and the family are absolutely crushed by this but I hope they will be able to start to process the grief.'
Mr Brisley's Bristol-born sister Lianne and teenage daughters Noiya and Yahel were killed by militants while hiding in their safe room on the October 7 2023.
A frail-looking Mr Sharabi, who was taken captive from Kibbutz Beeri by the militants during the Hamas attack, was freed on February 8.
Mr Brisley added: 'I have spent a lot of time with Sharone over the last 16 months and she has been an incredible advocate for all hostages.
'She always spoke fondly of Oded. It sounds like he had the most incredible life – as a peace activist, journalist and the trips to provide humanitarian support for Gazans.
'During his captivity Sharone always said she missed talking about life, politics and the world with him.
'More than anything Sharone spoke of what a warm and loving father he was and that is obviously what she is going to miss the most.'
In his free time, Mr Lifshitz played the piano and tended the cacti in his garden. Many mourners wore yellow cactus pins to remember him.
In an online tribute Adam Wagner, the lawyer for Dr Lifschitz and other British hostage families, had said in an online tribute: 'We don't know when or how Oded died, but we do know how he lived.'
He said the 'strength, determination, humanity and dignity' that Dr Lifschitz has shown is a tribute to how she was raised and 'also the values which surely are the only model for this terrible conflict ultimately being resolved'.
Mr Lifshitz was born in Haifa in 1940, which was under British Mandate rule.
His parents arrived there from Poland in 1933.
Mr Lifshitz's body and those of three others were handed over to the Red Cross on February 20.
Shiri Bibas and her children, Ariel and Kfir, whose bodies were also returned, are set to be buried in a private ceremony on Wednesday.
Hamas has claimed Mr Lifshitz and the Bibas family were killed in Israeli air strikes.
But Israel said tests found the two boys and Mr Lifshitz were killed by their captors.
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