Hamas hands over four bodies amid UN criticism

Hamas handed over the bodies of four Israeli hostages to the Red Cross on Thursday, as the United Nations rights chief criticised what it called the parading of the bodies in Gaza, saying that the move flew in the face of international law. The bodies of Israeli infant Kfir Bibas and his 4-year-old brother Ariel, the two youngest captives taken by Hamas in its October 7, 2023 attack, were transported to Israel. The bodies of the children's mother Shiri Bibas and a fourth hostage, Oded Lifschitz, were also handed over. During the handover, one militant stood beside a poster of a man standing over coffins wrapped in Israeli flags. It read "The Return of the War = The Return of your Prisoners in Coffins". Red Cross staff held up white screens in an attempt to conceal the coffins from large. "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", UN rights chief Volker Turk said in an emailed statement in response to Reuters questions. The Hamas-directed hostage releases since the January 19 ceasefire have been characterised by large public ceremonies amid the ruins of Gaza and have come under growing criticism. "These operations should be done privately out of the utmost respect for the deceased," the ICRC said. Hamas said in November 2023 that the boys and their mother had been killed in an Israeli airstrike. The Hamas-led attack into Israel killed some 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, with 251 kidnapped. Israel's subsequent military campaign has killed some 48,000 people. Thursday's handover of bodies will be followed by the return of six living hostages on Saturday, in exchange for hundreds more Palestinians, expected to be women and minors detained by Israeli forces in Gaza during the war.

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