Hamas has handed over the bodies of Israeli hostages for the first time as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal
The armed group says the bodies include those of a mother, Shiri Bibas, and her two young sons, who were aged nine months and four years when they were abducted
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said "the hearts of an entire nation lie in tatters"
Hamas claims the three Bibas family members were killed in an Israeli strike more than a year ago, without providing evidence. The BBC hasn't been able to independently verify this, and Israel says it will not confirm their deaths before forensic testing
The fourth body is that of Oded Lifschitz, 84, a veteran peace activist, the group says
One by one, the three remaining hostages' coffins are carried down from the stage, taken across the square, and lifted into the Red Cross vehicles.
Four vehicles are seen lining up, before they begin driving away.
A large crowd is watching on and Hamas members stand by holding weapons.
Image source, AFP
Image source, AFPOur live feeds show one of the coffins has now been removed from the stage.
Four men are seen carrying it towards the Red Cross vehicle, which is partially obscured from view by white screens.
The vehicle is then seen driving away from the square.
Image source, AFPSeveral Red Cross workers can now be seen taking out white screens from their vehicles.
They appear to be setting them up close to one of the cars, to shield it from the view of the crowds.
The remaining Red Cross vehicles - we can see four currently - are seen parked up a few metres away, separated from the first by a large group of people.
Paul Adams
World affairs correspondent
This is the moment all Israelis have been dreading: the return of the dead, from the very youngest to the very oldest.
For many, the focus will be on the Bibas family – Shiri and her two young red-headed boys, Ariel and Kfir. The image of a terrified Shiri, cradling her boys in her arms during her abduction on 7 October 2023, was one of the most searing to emerge from that day.
Hamas has long claimed that all three were killed during an Israeli airstrike early in the war. Israelis have clung to the hope that somehow all three survived.
Also being returned today, according to Palestinian Islamic Jihad, is the body of Oded Lifschitz, a veteran journalist and peace activist in his mid-eighties. His wife, Yocheved, was released in late October 2023, saying she had “been through hell” and had confronted the Hamas military chief, Yahya Sinwar, and told him he should be “ashamed of himself.”
The pictures of Oded Lifschitz and the Bibas family stare out from the front pages of this morning’s papers. Israel will only confirm their return once forensic tests have been completed, adding to the agony of the day.
Supporters of the hostages and their families have invited members of the public to line the route of an army convoy from the edge of the Gaza Strip to the Abu Kabir forensic institute in Jaffa.
On Saturday, Israelis are expecting to celebrate the return of six more living hostages. But today, a heavy blanket of grief has descended over the country.
Image source, AFPLive pictures from Khan Younis now show what appears to be a Red Cross worker and a Hamas member signing documents at a table on the same stage where the coffins have been laid.
Images now show four black coffins lined up on a stage set up in Khan Younis, in the south of Gaza.
As we just reported, a convoy of Red Cross vehicles has arrived. They are surrounded by crowds.
Image source, Reuters
Image source, AFPOver a live feed from Khan Younis, we can see a convoy of Red Cross vehicles driving towards a square where crowds have gathered ahead of the expected return of four hostages.
We're watching developments closely. You can see the latest pictures at the top of this page.
Image source, PA MediaWe reported earlier that the fourth body due to be returned is that of Oded Lifschitz, 84, according to Hamas.
The retired journalist and veteran peace activist was taken from kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel, along with this wife, Yocheved, 85. She was freed by Hamas two weeks later.
Lifschitz had been held by the armed Palestinian group Islamic Jihad since 7 October 2023.
Yocheved has previously said she and her husband were kidnapped by Hamas gunmen on motorbikes and taken into a "spider's web" of tunnels underneath Gaza.
After the ceasefire deal was negotiated last month, his daughter Sharone Lifschitz, a UK-Israeli citizen, told the BBC she hoped her father was still alive.
"Miracles do happen," she said from her east London home.
Image source, Reuters
Image source, Reuters
Image source, ReutersSebastian Usher
Middle East analyst
Image source, ReutersPictures of Shiri Bibas with her two young children have become the deepest and most potent symbol of the ordeal the hostages seized in the Hamas-led attacks on Israel have undergone.
Hamas claimed that all three died in what the group said was an Israeli attack just a month after they were captured.
But the Israeli authorities had never confirmed this, leaving their relatives and the whole of Israel still clinging on to hope they might be alive.
But later today, their bodies - along with Oded Lifschitz, a peace activist in his eighties - will be returned to Israel.
This will be the most sombre moment so far in the handovers of hostages - all alive until now - that have been taking place in the first phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Image source, Family handout/ PAShiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas were aged 32, four and nine months when they were kidnapped during the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023.
Hamas claimed in November that year that they had been killed in an Israeli air strike, without providing evidence. Israeli officials have said only that they are gravely concerned for their lives.
In a statement shared on Tuesday, the Bibas family said:
"In the past few hours, we have been in turmoil following Hamas spokesperson's announcement about the planned return of our Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir this Thursday as part of the hostages' remains release phase.
"We want to make it clear that while we are aware of these reports, we have not yet received any official confirmation regarding this matter.
"Until we receive definitive confirmation, our journey is not over."
Image source, ReutersThe children's father Yarden Bibas, 34, was released by Hamas on 1 February
Yesterday evening, the Red Cross called for privacy and dignity ahead of the expected release of the hostages' bodies from Gaza.
"We must be clear: any degrading treatment during release operations is unacceptable," the International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement.
As we just mentioned, it's not yet clear when the process of returning the bodies of the four hostages will begin.
A feed from Khan Younis appears to show preparations getting under way, however, with crowds gathering.
Image source, AFPHamas says it will hand over the bodies of four hostages today, including the two youngest people held by the Palestinian armed group.
The group's negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya, said the bodies would include those of the Bibas family - Shiri and her young children Kfir and Ariel, who were aged nine months and four years when Hamas kidnapped them during the 7 October 2023 attack.
Hamas alleges that the three were killed in Israeli strikes. Israel has not confirmed this. The children's father Yarden was released by Hamas earlier this month.
Hamas says the fourth body is that of Oded Lifschitz, 84, a veteran peace activist.
It's not clear when their return will happen, but it's expected that the process will begin soon.
Our teams in London and Jerusalem are monitoring developments. Stay with us.