TRAGIC: Israel Confirms Bibas Family Hy’d, 83 Year Old Oded Lifshitz Hy’d, To Be Returned Thursday

Belaaz joins all of Klal Yisroel in mourning the loss of the youngest hostages, infant Kefir, toddler Ariel and mother Shiri Bibas, Hy”d, with 83 year old Oded Lifshitz, HY”D as the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed Wednesday that they will be returned on Thursday.

The Bibas family was “in turmoil” after Hamas coldly announced their fate yesterday, though Israel did not confirm the report.

“Until we receive definitive confirmation, our journey is not over,” the family said.

Israeli officials said in January that there were “grave concerns” about whether the mother and young children were alive Husband and father Yarden Bibas was among the hostages freed from Gaza on Feb. 1.

Statement by the Lifshitz family: “These are not easy hours for us, after we were informed that our beloved Oded is on the list of fallen hostages who will return to Israel tomorrow, after being abducted alive from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz. For 502 days, we hoped and prayed for a different outcome, but until we receive absolute certainty, our journey will not end. Even after that, we will continue to fight until the last hostage is returned.”

Israeli PM Netanyahu statement on tomorrow’s release of the bodies of Shiri Bibas and her two sons Kfir (8 months) and Ariel (4) alongside 83 year old Oded Lipshitz – HY”D:

“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. 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. We are grieving, we are in pain, but we are also determined to ensure that such a thing never happens again..”