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Courtesy the family/TPS-IL on 20 February, 2025
‘Our Family’s Healing Process Will Begin Now’: Body of Hostage Oded Lifshitz Identified
Jerusalem, 20 February, 2025 (TPS-IL) -- The body of hostage Oded Lifshitz has been positively identified, the family said on Thursday.
“We received with deep sorrow the official and bitter news confirming the identification of our beloved Oded’s body,” the family said in a statement issued by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters. “503 agonizing days of uncertainty have come to an end. We had hoped and prayed so much for a different outcome. Now we can mourn the husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather who has been missing from us since October 7.”
The statement added, “Our family’s healing process will begin now and will not end until the last hostage is returned.”
Lifshitz, 84, was a retired journalist, one of the founders of Kibbutz Nir Oz in 1955, and a peace activist. He was known for volunteering for “Road to Recovery,” a non-governmental organization that transports Palestinian children with medical conditions to Israeli hospitals for treatment.
Lifshitz was abducted from his home with his wife, Yocheved. She and hostage Nurit Cooper were freed after 17 days of captivity.
He is survived by four children, several grandchildren, and a great-grandchild.
Hamas says it also handed over the bodies of Shiri Bibas and her sons, Ariel and Kfir, who, at nine-months, was the youngest hostage.
Besides identifying the four bodies, the National Institute of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv are working to determine the causes of death. It has been 503 days since they were abducted.
Defense Minister Israel Katz tweeted, “The heart of the entire nation mourns today,” adding, “Hamas kidnapped, Hamas murdered, Hamas will be destroyed. We will take revenge on our enemies and secure our future.”
The ongoing first phase of the ceasefire is supposed to see a total of 33 Israeli hostages freed over six weeks in exchange for up to 1,904 Palestinian terrorists imprisoned in Israel. The exact number will depend on how Israeli captives are alive.
Since the first hostage release on Jan. 19, Hamas has freed 19 Israeli and five Thai captives in exchange for 952 imprisoned Palestinian terrorists.
Hostages Tal Shoham, Omer Wenkert, Omer Shem Tov, Eliya Cohen, Avera Mengistu, and Hisham Al-Sayed are due to return home alive on Saturday.
The fate of the remaining 65 hostages will be determined by negotiations during the ceasefire’s second phase. Critics say the phased approach condemns these 65 hostages to open-ended captivity and undermines Israel’s war gains.
At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 69 remaining hostages, more than 36 are believed to be dead.
At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 69 remaining hostages, more than 36 are believed to be dead.
