Latest news with #Lifshitz
Arab News
25-02-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
‘Dad, you're home': Israeli hostage who died in Gaza laid to rest
NIR 'OZ, Israel: Hundreds of people gathered on Tuesday at a small cemetery in a southern Israeli community to bid a final farewell to Oded Lifshitz, a kibbutz founder who died in captivity in Gaza. Palestinian militant group Hamas returned Lifshitz's body to Israel last week, part of an ongoing truce deal that has halted the Gaza war — triggered by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack in which the veteran journalist was abducted from his home. 'Dad, now you're home,' said his son Arnon Lifshitz at the cemetery in Nir Oz. Among the attendees at the funeral were lawmakers, activists, European diplomats and Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who asked for 'forgiveness that the State of Israel did not protect you, your family and your kibbutz.' 'In the face of such inhuman cruelty, you were left to stand alone,' said the president. Lifshitz, then aged 83, was taken hostage from his home on the kibbutz during Hamas's 2023 attack. His wife, Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, was also seized but released by Hamas after 18 days. Israeli officials said Oded Lifshitz was murdered by his captors from militant group Islamic Jihad, which has fought alongside Hamas in Gaza. In addition to Lifshitz, the bodies of three other Nir Oz residents taken hostage and killed in captivity — Shiri Bibas and her two young sons — were returned last week. The three members of the Bibas family will be buried on Wednesday. At Lifshitz's funeral, Hen Avigdori, whose wife and daughter were taken hostage from a neighboring kibbutz and released in the war's first truce in November 2023, said that 'it should have ended differently, he should be here with us.' To Avigdori, seeing the row of graves 'of people who were murdered here on October 7, and those who are waiting for their loved ones to be returned, is a difficult feeling.' 'This kibbutz has become a symbol of the neglect.' Lifshitz had a long career with the now defunct, left-leaning newspaper Al Hamishmar, and was a long-time defender of Palestinian rights. In 1972, he defended Bedouins who were expelled from the Sinai Peninsula by occupying Israeli authorities. A decade later, during the Lebanese civil war and Israel's invasion of Lebanon, he was one of the first journalists to report on the Sabra and Shatila massacres in which Israeli-backed Christian militias killed between 800 and 2,000 Palestinians in Beirut refugee camps. More recently, Lifshitz, an Arabic speaker, had been actively involved for years with Road to Recovery, an organization which helps Palestinians receive medical treatment in Israel. Shlomo Margalit, also one of the founders of Nir Oz and a friend of Lifshitz, said that 'Oded was a man of peace.' 'All his life, he worked for the well-being of our neighbors.' Yocheved Lifshitz said that in their 67 years together, she and Oded 'fought... for social justice and peace.' 'Unfortunately, we received a terrible blow from those we had helped on the other side.' Hamas and its militant allies took 251 people hostage during their October 2023 attack. Of those, 62 are still being held hostages in Gaza, including 35 the Israeli military says are dead. Bibas and her two sons, Kfir and Ariel, had become symbols of the ordeal suffered by the Israeli hostages. Ariel was aged four at the time of the attack, while Kfir was the youngest hostage, just nine months old. At the cemetery, one of Lifshitz's grandsons Dekel Lifshitz told AFP that the cactus garden his late grandfather had cultivated on the kibbutz was a sign of his 'determination.' 'It takes years to succeed in growing a garden like this, and it reminds me that he was always active.'
The Independent
25-02-2025
- The Independent
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.
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Hundreds attend funeral of killed Israeli hostage Oded Lifshitz
Hundreds of people flocked to the southern Israeli kibbutz of Nir Oz on Tuesday to pay their last respects to 84-year-old peace activist Oded Lifshitz, who was killed in captivity in the Gaza Strip. "Dad, you're here now, now you're home," the Times of Israel quoted his eldest son, Arnon Lifshitz, as saying during the funeral. Lifshitz, then aged 83, was one of the 250 people abducted during the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. His remains were returned to Israel last week under a fragile ceasefire agreement with the Palestinian extremist group. A forensic examination suggests that Lifshitz was killed by his captors shortly after having been taken to the sealed-off coastal territory. His body was returned alongside those of Kfir and Ariel Bibas, two young boys who were abducted alongside their parents. The body of the boy's mother, Shiri Bibas, was said to have been returned alongside them, but Israel later announced that the remains were not hers, sparking outrage. Shiri Bibas was then returned the next day, and she and her sons are set to be buried on Wednesday. The children's father, Yarden Bibas, 34, was released alive by Hamas on February 1. All four members of the family were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz during the unprecedented October terrorist attacks two years ago. Some 1,200 people were killed in the attacks, which led to another war in Gaza, in which tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed so far.
New York Times
22-02-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Live Updates: Hamas Is Set to Release 6 More Hostages
People gathered at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv on Thursday, hours after militants turned over four bodies to Israel as part of a cease-fire deal between Hamas and Israel. For Jonathan Dekel-Chen, every day this week has been a mixture of joy and grief. He is celebrating the return of his son Sagui, who was released over the weekend as part of the cease-fire deal with Hamas. But reminders of Sagui's ordeal, and the torments of the remaining hostages, are impossible to escape. 'Today is a day with very mixed feelings,' Mr. Dekel-Chen said in an interview on Thursday. He had just visited his son in a Tel Aviv-area hospital on a day when Hamas turned over coffins that were said to contain the remains of four of Mr. Dekel-Chen's neighbors in Kibbutz Nir Oz, where about a quarter of the 400 residents were either killed or taken hostage on Oct. 7, 2023. It has been 504 days since the Hamas-led attack, and roughly 60 hostages have yet to come home. 'We need to double down now on getting all the hostages home,' Mr. Dekel-Chen said. The four bodies returned on Thursday were said to include three members of the Bibas family — Ariel Bibas, 4, and Kfir Bibas, who was just 10 months old, and their mother, Shiri Bibas. The Bibases came to symbolize the plight of the captives after videos of them being taken to Gaza went viral. But early Friday, the Israeli military announced that the remains in what was said to be Ms. Bibas's coffin did not match the identity of any of the hostages. 'This is a violation of utmost severity,' the military said. The authorities did confirm the children's remains, and those of Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 when he was killed in captivity by the militant group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office. Image Hostages being handed over in Khan Younis, Gaza, this month as part of a hostage and prisoner deal. Credit... Saher Alghorra for The New York Times Mr. Lifshitz, a retired journalist, was captured along with his wife, Yocheved Lifshitz, who was released weeks into the war for what Hamas called 'humanitarian and health reasons.' She has described abuse and harrowing conditions in Hamas's underground tunnels, warning that other hostages would not be able to endure them. Before the war, Mr. Lifshitz volunteered to drive Gazans seeking medical treatment to hospitals in Israel and was a founding member of a branch of Peace Now, a group advocating a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Mr. Dekel-Chen, who was friends with Mr. Lifshitz for decades, said he 'was a man truly committed to his values.' Thousands of Israelis paid tribute to Mr. Lifshitz and the other hostages during a Thursday night rally in what has become known as Hostage Square in Tel Aviv. They were also there to pressure the Israeli government to secure the release of those still being held. Rally speakers demanded that the Netanyahu government not let the cease-fire fall apart. The first phase of the agreement between Israel and Hamas took effect in January and is set to end in less than two weeks. Negotiations on the second phase have been delayed, leaving the fates of dozens of captives up in the air. The fragile truce has led to the release of hostages from Gaza in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails — but there are concerns among the relatives of hostages that there may not be another round of releases. Yael Adar, whose son Tamir Adar was killed in the attack on Kibbutz Nir Oz and whose body has not been returned from Gaza, spoke at the Thursday rally. She said that when Tamir's son heard that bodies would be returned to Israel this week, he asked if his father would be coming home. 'We told him no, not at this stage. Asaf couldn't understand why there were stages,' she said. Mr. Netanyahu's office said has said that six living hostages would be released on Saturday, instead of three as planned, and that four more bodies would be returned next week. But relatives are anxious. Image A poster showing Shiri Bibas, center, who was kidnapped with her husband and young sons on Oct. 7, 2023. Hamas released what it said were her remains, but Israel's military said none of the returned bodies were a match for her. Credit... Mahmoud Illean/Associated Press Hamas's failure to return Ms. Bibas raises new questions about whether the next release of hostages and prisoners on Saturday will proceed and the fate of talks on the second phase of the cease-fire deal. If negotiations on the second phase fail, roughly 60 hostages, some believed to be dead, would most likely remain in Gaza. And if fighting resumes, those who are alive will be in even graver danger. On Monday, a rally in Hostage Square was held to mark the 500th day of captivity for those being held in Gaza. Among the speakers was Yeela David, the sister of Evyatar David, who was taken from the Nova music festival during the Oct. 7 attack. 'Phase 2 is the last chance to save the lives of dozens,' she said. 'If this deal falls apart and Phase 2 doesn't begin, it will remain a black stain in the pages of our history.' The hostages that have been freed say there is no time to spare. Keith Siegel's wife drove that point home during the Monday rally at Hostage Square. Mr. Siegel was held in Gaza for nearly 500 days, six months of which were spent locked in a small room alone. He was beaten, threatened at gunpoint and reduced by his captors to 'nothing,' in the words of his wife, Aviva. Image Aviva Siegel last year with a photograph of her husband, Keith Siegel, who was released this month. 'He went through 484 days of hell,' she said. Credit... Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times He ate only moldy pita bread, lost 65 pounds and some days thought he would not survive, Ms. Siegel said, describing details of her husband's experience for the first time. 'He went through 484 days of hell no human being should ever have to experience,' said Ms. Siegel, who was also taken hostage. She was released during a brief truce in November 2023. 'I was in Gaza. I survived. Keith survived. Others will not,' Ms. Siegel warned. It was a theme repeated by other former captives, including Iair Horn, 46, who was freed on Saturday along with two other hostages in exchange for 369 Palestinian prisoners. He appeared in a video message at the Monday rally, recorded about 48 hours after his return to Israel, to plead for his brother, Eitan Horn, who was still in Gaza and was not slated to be freed in the first phase of the agreement. 'I was there. I was in Hamas's tunnels. I experienced it firsthand,' Iair Horn said. 'And I'm telling you, the hostages don't have time. They must be brought back now.' Since his return, he said, people kept asking what he needs. 'I answer them, 'I need only one thing: Bring back my brother. Bring back my brother and all the hostages.''
CNN
22-02-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Hamas stages macabre ceremony to release bodies of four Israeli hostages, said to include Bibas children and their mother
Hamas on Thursday put on a macabre handover ceremony in central Gaza to return the bodies of four Israeli hostages taken on October 7, 2023. It was the first time the militant group has released the remains of dead hostages since its attack on Israel, and marked a somber turn for a country more used to elation when former captives returned home alive. Among those released were said to be the bodies of Shiri Bibas, who was aged 32 when she and her sons Ariel, 4, and Kfir, 9 months, were abducted from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, southern Israel by Hamas-led militants more than 16 months ago. The two boys have become the most recognizable victims of the October 7 terror attacks. The fourth body was that of Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 years old when he and his wife, Yocheved Lifshitz, were kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz. Yocheved was released by Hamas on October 24, 2023. At a press conference Thursday, the Head of Israel's National Center of Forensic Medicine Dr. Chen Kugel said experts had confirmed that one of the bodies was Lifshitz, but did not comment on the other three bodies. 'We share in the deep sorrow of the Lifshitz family. Today, 503 days after the October 7 massacre, we have determined that Oded Lifshitz was murdered in captivity over a year ago,' Kugel said. Earlier Thursday, the Prime Minister's Office said that Lifshitz had been 'murdered in captivity by the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization.' Israeli officials did not provide details on how they knew Lifshitz was murdered in captivity. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement denied the Israeli claims, saying Lifshitz was killed in an Israeli strike along with 'the security team assigned to protect and serve him.' It provided no details or evidence to support its claim. As in past weeks, Hamas used the handover ceremony as an opportunity for anti-Israel propaganda. But the juxtaposition of four black coffins borne by masked militants rather than living hostages led to widespread condemnation in Israel, whose television networks – unlike in past weeks – did not carry the ceremony live. Loud music blared as Red Cross workers loaded coffins into armored SUVs. Hamas claimed in November 2023 that Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas were killed in an Israeli airstrike, though never presented any evidence, and Israel never confirmed their deaths. Among the propaganda posters strung up by Hamas on Thursday was an image of a vampiric Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looming over an image of the hostages. '503 agonizing days of uncertainty have come to an end,' the Lifshitz family said in a statement, after receiving confirmation that Oded's body had been returned. 'Now we can mourn the husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather who has been missing from us since October 7. Our family's healing process will begin now and will not end until the last hostage is returned.' The caskets were first handed to the Red Cross then transferred to the Israeli military, whose soldiers draped the coffins in Israeli flags and brought them into Israel. Scores of people, many waving flags, lined the roads as a convoy carrying the four coffins traveled to Tel Aviv. Israeli President Isaac Herzog said hearts across the country 'lie in tatters,' and asked for forgiveness on behalf of the government for failing to protect those captured on October 7. 'Agony. Pain. There are no words,' he wrote in a post on X. Hamas claimed in November 2023 that the Bibas children and their mother were killed in an Israeli airstrike, but did not produce any evidence. Israel has never confirmed their deaths. The children's father, Yarden Bibas, was released by Hamas earlier this month after 484 days of captivity. He was one of the 19 Israeli hostages freed alive under the January 2025 ceasefire deal. The Israeli military had previously retrieved the bodies of multiple hostages in Gaza. At just 9 months old, Kfir was the youngest hostage kidnapped into Gaza and the youngest to have been killed. A photo of him holding a pink elephant toy and looking directly at the camera with a toothless smile has been featured in numerous campaigns and protests around the world. His brother Ariel, just 4 at the time of the attack, was often shown in a photo taken after he had a haircut, still wrapped in the hairdresser's cape. Earlier photos of the family showed Ariel, a big fan of Batman, with locks of long red hair. The picture was shown on the large screens at New York City's Times Square, printed on t-shirts worn by protesters in London, Berlin and elsewhere, and brought to the stage at the World Economic Forum in Davos by Israeli President Isaac Herzog. A video of the Bibas family's abduction became one of the symbols of the brutality of the October 7 terror attack. It showed a terrified Shiri clinging tightly to her children wrapped in a blanket, with Ariel still sucking his pacifier. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) later released another video, which they said showed Shiri and the two boys alive in southern Gaza on October 7. The footage showed a person wrapped in a blanket carrying a child being ordered around by armed militants before being put in a car and driven away. The two boys and their mother were not released from Gaza during the temporary truce in late November 2023, even though the deal agreed between Israel and Hamas called for all women and children to be set free. The IDF said at that time they believed the family was being held by other militant groups, not Hamas. Later that week, Hamas said the two Bibas children and their mother were killed in an Israeli airstrike, without providing evidence. Israel never confirmed their deaths. A few days after making the claim, Hamas released a video of Yarden, the father, in which he blamed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the death of his wife and two children. Yarden appeared to be in extreme distress in the video and was very likely speaking under duress. In a statement published shortly after his release this month, Yarden urged the world to 'continue doing everything possible' to ensure all hostages return home. 'Sadly, my family hasn't returned to me yet. They are still there. My light is still there, and as long as they're there, everything here is dark. Thanks to you, I was brought back - help me bring the light back to my life,' he said, referring to the Israeli public. The run up to the release of the four bodies on Thursday was marred by the Bibas family's anger at the Israeli Prime Minister's office, which they said had released the names without their approval. A source in the Prime Minister's office told CNN that while it had not published an official statement with the names of the dead hostages, IDF liaison officers had approved the publishing of the names to reporters without clearing this first with the family. The forum later released a statement at the request of the Bibas family asking the public not to 'eulogize our loved ones until there is a confirmation after final identification.' This story has been updated with additional information. Correction: The headline on this story has been corrected to reflect that Israel has not yet confirmed the Bibas family were among the four bodies released Thursday
